


Siriusly Better

by thornconnelly



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Baby Harry, Eventual Sirius Black/Remus Lupin, Fluff and Angst, Fork in the road AU, James and Lily still die, M/M, Ugh, but I didn't want to write any actual smut, how do I tag sex?, so just... brief descriptions of sex that gets interrupted half the time, there's a bit of sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-31
Updated: 2018-08-05
Packaged: 2019-06-19 02:04:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 26,784
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15499902
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thornconnelly/pseuds/thornconnelly
Summary: Fork in the road AU - What if Sirius got to baby Harry and took him instead of chasing down Wormtail?I want to preface this with a slight apology. I was lazy while writing this. I reread these books every two years or so, and I did minimal extra research, so everything is based off my memory and I'm positive I got things wrong. Also there is some French dialogue that I used google translate for because I know nothing about French. And I just didn't even try to use British vernacular. So, basically, I'm just lazy.





	1. Chapter 1

Sirius squinted his eyes against the wind, but refused to slow his motorcycle down. The green glow reflected off the handlebars as he crashed to the sidewalk. He refused to look up at the Dark Mark as he dashed into the house, pulling out his wand cautiously.

The house he shouldn't be able to see. 

The house that would only be visible to him if both James and Lily were dead. 

Sirius felt his heart stutter in his chest and he took a ragged breath. He had heard rumors that the Death Eaters were going to be staging another attack tonight, so he had positioned himself a few blocks away from James and Lily’s house. He had rented a house under a muggle’s name when James had told him that they’d be staying in Godric’s Hollow. He figured the muggle wouldn’t mind, particularly since Sirius had lost a bet with him and had to give him a gold nugget the size of his head. Since Sirius wasn’t James’ Secret Keeper, he didn’t know the exact address where they were located, but every night that he was able to, he kept his eye peeled to the skyline. Each night he dreaded seeing the one thing that had appeared tonight. The eerie green Dark Mark floating in the sky. The symbol that only meant one thing. 

Death. 

He had talked with Mad-Eye Moody and had placed a few Apparition-sensing alarms and anti-invisibility jinxes throughout the town, but so far three people had set them off on accident. Sirius wanted to act as an extra line of defence for his best friend and his family, but he also didn’t want to be too obvious and tip off the Death Eaters that the Potters were hiding in Godric’s Hollow. 

Everyone knew that Sirius was the likely Secret Keeper for James. They had been inseparable for a decade. That’s why Sirius came up with the idea to make Wormtail the Secret Keeper. Nobody would see that coming. 

Unless, of course, Wormtail was actually the traitor. 

Which, at this point, was literally the only possible answer. 

Sirius ran through the front door shouting, “Harry?” 

The responding cry was almost enough to make him fall down with relief. He dashed forward, but froze in his steps as he saw James, laying splayed on the floor. Sirius cursed softly as tears came to his eyes, but pushed past his oldest friend as he made his way towards the stairs. He wasn’t sure if the Death Eaters were truly gone, but with the noise he had made so far as well as Harry’s cries, he didn’t want to risk anyone else hearing them and showing up.The door to Harry's room was hanging from one broken hinge and Sirius’ breath caught in his throat as he walked in the room. There was some overturned furniture downstairs, but nothing could have prepared him for the chaos in his godson's room. Half of the far wall and roof were missing, the dresser was on its side behind the broken door, and Lily's body was crumpled at the foot of Harry's crib. 

Sirius took a deep breath and then wrenched the door around. He grabbed James’ Baby Bjorn from the hook on the back of the door and began strapping it on. He refused to think about the day James had opened it, and how much they had all laughed while trying to figure out how to carry Harry safely in it. Sirius and James and spent hours bouncing Harry around when he first began teething, so he felt confident he could get him in the harness. He had Harry safely strapped to his chest in under a minute, and Harry's cries began to quiet. Sirius rubbed his back with one hand while he grabbed essentials from the undamaged half of the room and shoved them into the bag he had brought with him. 

Lily had made Sirius promise that he would do everything in his power to protect Harry, no matter what. Sirius had offered to make the Unbreakable Promise, but James had laughed and said that he trusted Sirius, and that no amount of magic could bind them together more than they already were. 

It was James’ trust in his friends that got him killed though. 

Sirius wrapped one arm across Harry’s back as he turned and raced down the stairs. 

Sirius was almost at the bottom of the stairs when he heard Hagrid's wail. He rushed to the door and flung it open, wand pointed. Hagrid silenced himself when he saw Sirius and rushed forward and pulled him into a hug. Sirius braced his arms on Hagrid's chest so that Harry wouldn't get squished, and stepped back as soon as Hagrid released him. 

“I'm so relieved,” Hagrid began, “But how did you know? Dumbledore just told me, and he wanted me to look for Harry, but now that you're here--”

Sirius interrupted, “Hagrid, I have to go, Harry isn't safe yet. Can, can you give a message to Dumbledore for me?” Sirius wasn't sure if he could actually trust Hagrid, if maybe Wormtail wasn't the only traitor.  They had been concerned about people switching sides, and most of the giants had already gone to Voldemort. Hagrid had always seemed reliable, and Dumbledore said he trusted him, but it wasn't just his own safety Sirius needed to think about now. He needed to keep Harry safe.

Hagrid nodded, “Of course. But what happened? Did they get James and Lily? Both of them? Did you see anybody? Oh and look at Harry’s head! What happened? I heard it was He Who Must Not be Named. But how is Harry still alive?”

Sirius shook his head while Hagrid shot out rapid fire questions, and whipped his wand in a complex pattern. He grabbed the scroll of parchment as it fell from the tip of his wand and handed it to Hagrid.

_ Dumbledore, I convinced James to make Peter his Secret Keeper just last week. This is all my fault. I promised Lily I’d keep Harry safe, so that’s what I’m going to do. I’ll owl you in a few days. Sirius _

_ P.S. PETER IS AN ILLEGAL ANIMAGUS AND TAKES THE FORM OF A RAT.  _

“This will explain things for Dumbledore,” Sirius explained as he shifted the backpack straps over the Baby Bjorn straps. After a seconds’ thought, he fished his motorcycle keys out of his pocket and handed them to Hagrid as well, “You might as well take my motorcycle. It's a little too conspicuous and not safe for Harry.”

Hagrid nodded and gulped as he pocketed the keys and scroll.

Sirius looked up at him and nodded in return, placed his hands on Harry's back and spun to disapparate. 

Sirius had never done side-along apparition before, but he definitely knew the theory. Happily, Harry had experienced it many times and didn’t react at all. He was finally calm and Sirius suspected that he was about to doze off as he began walking again. The sidestreet in London that Sirius had apparated on was quiet in the middle of the night, but he knew that in just a few hours, people would begin waking up and getting ready for work. Sirius walked until he found what he was looking for: a car with a carseat already installed. He carefully shifted Harry out of the baby carrier and into the carseat. It took a little maneuvering to tighten the straps so they fit Harry properly, but Sirius managed all of it without waking Harry up. 

Sirius tossed the baby carrier and the backpack onto the passenger seat and then climbed into the driver’s seat. It took him less than two seconds to start the car magically, and then he began driving. The street Sirius had apparated onto was near the docks, and after driving for only a few minutes, they arrived near the ferry. Sirius was relieved to find a ferry loading, and after talking with the captain and purchasing a ticket, eased the car into the assigned space and settled in for the ride. After only fifteen minutes or so, the ship took off and Sirius felt himself begin to relax. While the ferry slowly cross the channel towards France, Sirius riffled through the glove compartment in the car. He felt bad for stealing the car and wanted to make it up to the family, particularly since they now had no way to drive with their baby. Upon finding the address listed on the car’s insurance, Sirius summoned a piece of parchment and then transfigured it to look more like regular white muggle paper. He wrote on the paper “Apologies for taking your car, but my need was great. I hope this sum covers the cost and the inconvenience.” He then summoned cash from his storage box that he kept under his bed full of both muggle money and gold wizarding coins. He counted out a few dozen hundred dollar bills and carefully folded him inside his letter. He sealed the envelope and addressed it to the family. He stepped outside the car and after carefully looking around, performed the complex gesture to summon an owl. After slipping two knuts into the pouch on its ankle, he showed the owl the address on the letter and quietly explained that it was a muggle residence, “So don’t be seen!” Sirius whispered as he held the owl aloft so it could float quietly into the night. 

He stood next to the car for a few moments, looking down at Harry’s sleeping form and then out towards the French coast, even though he couldn’t quite make it out yet through the dark night. Sirius’ thoughts were as dark as the night surrounding him, and for a moment, he thought they would be never ending too. 

He was the one who convinced James to use Peter as Secret Keeper. It was his fault that James and Lily were both dead. It was his fault that his best friend was dead. It was his fault that his godson was now an orphan. He had caused the deaths of two people who he had sworn to protect. How could he trust himself to take care of Harry, to keep him safe, when he had failed so epically at keeping his parents safe? 

He should go back, find Dumbledore, or even Hagrid. Give Harry to one of them, so that they can keep him safe. 

And he would go find Wormtail. 

That traitor. 

And he would kill him. 

After what seemed like an eternity of staring at the dark coast, Sirius finally began to make out landmarks, and his promise to Lily resurfaced in his mind. 

He had to keep Harry safe. 

That could be his only priority. 

He returned to his seat and strapped on his seat belt. Harry was still sleeping peacefully, and Sirius envied him that peace. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sirius and Harry arrive in France looking for refuge.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize to all French speakers for whatever I did to bastardize the language. I blame google translate and my laziness. 
> 
> Also, to anyone who doesn't speak French, it's mostly meant to be pleasantries and ordering breakfast, so you're not missing anything too vital.

After waving his thanks to the ferry captain upon landing in France, Sirius began driving south. He figured he could follow signs until he got closer to Paris and then find a place to rent. 

Harry woke up about an hour after dawn, so Sirius pulled off the highway and found a small cafe he could park near. He changed Harry's diaper on the back passenger seat next to his car seat and then changed him into a onesie and new pair of pants from the backpack. Sirius loaded Harry into the Baby Bjorn again and walked into the cafe. 

“Bonjour,” the woman behind the counter said with a friendly air, “comment puis-je vous aider? Ton fils est si mignon!” She leaned over the counter and gently pinched Harry's cheek.

“Je vous remercie.” Sirius replied. It had been years since he had spoken French. His parents had insisted that he and his brother be fluent, but like everything his parents forced him to do, he had resisted. Sirius winced at his accent as he continued to order, “Puis-je prendre un café? Et qu'est-ce que tu as pour le petit déjeuner aujourd'hui?”

The woman laughed kindly, “Been a few years since you have spoken French? Don't worry. I know English.”

Sirius sighed and laughed ruefully, “I guess I'm more rusty than I realized.”

“Have a seat, love. I have a high chair right here than my granddaughter uses. I'll bring over your coffee and breakfast. What would le beau bébé like to eat?”

Sirius hesitated for a second, “He's a good eater. Maybe just some eggs and bread?”

The woman nodded, “Not a problem.”

Sirius settled Harry into the wooden high chair and grinned. It must be an antique, although it is much simpler than the antique wooden atrocity his parents had used on him and his useless brother, Regulus. 

Sirius felt the grin slowly fall off his face as he continued to stare at Harry sitting in the high chair. Harry was gnawing on his left fist as if that was the most interesting and satisfying thing in the world. 

How on earth was he going to be able to take care of a baby? Realistically, when Sirius had agreed to be Harry’s godfather, he had assumed that his biggest responsibility would be buying the kid extra special birthday presents and maybe taking him on fun vacations once he got older. Sirius’ own godfather was Arcturus Malfoy, and the insufferable git was intolerable. He regularly showed up to their house for the sole purpose of giving Sirius lectures about the evils of integrating with muggles. He often talked about how “mating” with muggles tainted pure bloodlines and was the underlying cause for every single problem that the wizarding world suffered. 

When Sirius had signed up for this godfather role, he one hundred percent never ever expected to be the primary caregiver for Harry. 

And now he was.

Because his best friend had been murdered.

And it was all his fault. 

Sirius rested his elbows on the table and dropped his face into his hands. Harry made a farting noise with his hand and Sirius half-laughed as he lifted his head to look over at Harry. “What are we going to do, Harry?” 

Harry giggled and slapped his wet hand down on the table and Sirius leaned over and ruffled Harry’s messy black hair. He had his father’s hair--it had been thick and messy the day he was born and if it was anything like James’ hair, it would continue to be messy every single day for the rest of his life, regardless of what he tried doing with it. 

“Thanks, Harry,” Sirius said just as softly. “We’ll make it together, right? Because we’re a team now?”

The woman walked back into the room her arms laden with plates. “I had some oatmeal too, so I brought out a small bowl for le bebe. And I hope you like pears and apples.”

Harry laughed and waved his wet little fist around.

Sirius helped Harry eat his oatmeal and fruit. He was happy with the distraction because if you had asked him last night, on the ferry, if he could have ever laughed this much, he would have punched somebody. Sirius hadn’t been able to fathom the idea of being happy again, not without James and Lily still alive. But Sirius sat there, at the small cafe in a random town in France with Harry, laughing with his godson while he tried to get more food in his mouth than on his face. 

The woman helped a few other customers, some sitting and eating like Sirius, some just getting bread or pastries and presumably taking them back home. After a couple left, she came around the counter and pulled out a seat at the table. Sirius looked at her quizzically, but she gestured at Sirius’ untouched breakfast. She reached towards Harry’s breakfast, so Sirius passed it over to her. 

“What is your name, handsome boy?” She asked as she shifted towards the high chair and prepared to spoon some oatmeal into Harry’s mouth. 

“His name is Harry,” Sirius replied as he began to eat his own breakfast. 

The woman stiffened and her eyes darted back and forth between Harry and Sirius, but when they finally fell on the lightning shaped scar on Harry’s head, Sirius whipped his wand out subtly and pointed it from beside his plate so that the other patrons sitting a few tables away wouldn’t notice anything.

“You don’t seem like a Death Eater,” she said softly while resuming feeding Harry.

Sirius winced. There were rumors already that he was a Death Eater? 

“I’m not. I’m trying to keep my godson safe from the Death Eaters,” he replied just as softly, but firmly. 

She nodded slowly and wiped some dribbled oatmeal off of Harry’s chin. “I got an owl from my cousin in London not an hour ago. He Who Must Not Be Named has vanished, and the rumor is that he tried to kill a child, but that something went wrong with the spell. A child named Harry Potter. Rumor is the spell left a lightning shaped mark on the child’s head. Rumor is that he is special. Also, he is missing.”

“Yes, and rumor says that he was kidnapped?” Sirius asked aggressively. 

The woman nodded again, “A close friend was their Secret Keeper. Rumor says the child was seen after, by someone working for Dumbledore, but that he was taken. And is now missing.”

Sirius cursed softly but stared at the women. “I swear… I swear to everything that I am not a Death Eater. I know who betrayed the Potters, who betrayed all of us, but I can’t… I can’t do anything about it because I have to keep Harry safe. He’s all I have left. Him and Re--- no. I have to keep Harry safe because I promised, and if Dumbledore didn’t believe my letter… well… I’ll just have to… raise Harry and maybe we can move… to America?”

The woman reached out her hand and laid it on top of Sirius’ hand, the one not pointing a wand at her. “Hush. I have an extra apartment upstairs. You can stay here for a few days, or longer if you want. My owl should be back any minute now, and you can send another letter to Dumbledore if you want. My sister always says he’s such a busy man. Maybe he just didn’t see your first letter.”

“Why… why do you trust me?”

She laughed heartily, “Oh mon cher, you look more like a lost dog than any other man I’ve ever seen before. I don’t mean this as an insult, but have you ever cared for a child on your own before? Have you ever cared for yourself alone before?”

Sirius couldn’t help but laugh at that, particularly since this woman had no idea how close to true her statement about being a lost dog really was. “I have money to pay you, of course.”

She nodded. “Good. My husband, Dieu bénisse son âme, he died ten years ago, he used to always complain about me taking in strays, but I always told him, ‘Leon, there is always a reason. They come to me because they need me.’ And see? You came here because you need me.”

Sirius grinned. “You definitely did a better job of feeding Harry than I did.”

She tsked, “You were doing fine. I just didn’t want your eggs to get too cold. Cold eggs are not good.” She stood up, slowly pulled her wand out of her pocket and placed it on the table, lifted Harry out of his chair, and then leaned over and carefully handed him to Sirius before picking her wand back up and stowing it in the pocket of her apron. He was grateful for the gesture; Sirius was placing his trust in this woman, but he still couldn’t run the risk that she would try to disapparate and take Harry away from him, even if she might have had good motives. 

She walked toward through the kitchen door and gestured for Sirius to follow. She lead him to a staircase near the back of the kitchen. “The back door leads out in to a garden. You can park your car back there, and come through here. I’ll find you a key later. I am Alicia, by the way. And this,” she said gesturing to a young woman who was kneading dough, “this is my daughter, Celeste.” 

“I’m Sirius Black,” he replied, “but you knew that already, didn’t you?”

The woman nodded, “I’m sorry that the drawing they have of you is not very flattering.” She handed him a piece of parchment with a rough sketch of his face and he almost choked.

“How did they get this?” He asked while shifting Harry onto his hip so he could hold the parchment more easily. “I drew this when we were in school!”

“You … drew that?” Celeste asked curiously, looking significantly between her mother and Sirius. Then she switched into a quiet French, “Mère sommes-nous sérieusement héberger un criminel?”

“Je ne suis pas un criminel. Et je parle français,” Sirius said with a slight smirk.

“Oh child, please, your accent. We must work on that if you stay. And yes, Celeste, he and Harry will be staying for a while. He is obviously not a Death Eater. And obviously if He Who Must Not be Named is really gone, and has been vanquished by this petite baguette, then obviously the real Death Eaters will be looking for him. He must be kept safe.”  
Alicia began walking up the stairs, but Celeste just squinted at Sirius from across the room. Sirius put the parchment on the table, shifted Harry onto his other hip, and then lifted up the sleeve on his left arm to reveal his bare skin. 

"See? No Dark Mark," Sirius pointed out.

She nodded, but continued to look suspicious as she turned back towards the table and her dough. Sirius followed Alicia up the stairs.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sirius dwells on everything that's happened in the past 12 hours.

_Dumbledore,_

_By now you must have spoken to Hagrid and read the letter I gave him. What else can I say to convince you? I would never betray James. I would never betray the Order. You know that I renounced my old family and their beliefs. James was more than my best friend. He was my brother. I foolishly thought we could trust Peter. Everyone suspected there was a rat in the Order. I was the fool with the truth right in front of my face and I couldn’t see it._

_We all became animagi during fifth year so that we could keep Remus company. You must have realized. James was a stag and I am a black dog. I am sorry that we never told you. We wanted to, but Peter always fought against it. He said he was worried that you wouldn’t forgive us, that you would lose trust in us. Now I realize that he only wanted his identity to stay a secret so that he could turn into a LITERAL RAT AND BETRAY HIS FRIENDS._

_Albus, you know me. You know that I didn’t do this. You know that I’ll do everything I can to keep Harry safe. After Remus leaving, and Peter betraying us, and James… Harry is all I have left. I want to kill Peter. I want him dead for what he did to us. But I know you don’t. I know you wouldn’t approve of my instinct._

_You know that I could have left Harry. I could have given him to Hagrid and gone after Peter. But your voice spoke to me. It told me that love was more important than hate. Your voice spoke to me and reminded me that our only strength lies in our faith in one another and our ability to support each other. I took your words to heart and I rescued Harry._

_And I left._

_Harry and I are safe now._

_Please tell me that you believe me,_

_Sirius_

**

_Mooney,_

_I convinced James to make Wormtail the Secret Keeper last week. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. We weren’t sure where you were and I didn’t want to send that information by owl._

_I was worried that there was a rat in the Order. The irony has not escaped me._

_I know we haven’t spoken since our fight, but I just need to know you’re okay._

_Harry and I are fine. We’re hiding from the Death Eaters somewhere safe._

_Please write back,_

_Padfoot_

**

Sirius looked over at where Harry was sleeping in Alicia’s spare crib. He rolled up the two parchments and stepped out of the small apartment. He locked the door with a charm that would, at best, slow someone down, but hopefully give him enough time to race back upstairs. Once down in the kitchen, Celeste pointed him towards the owl that had recently arrived. He made sure to pet the owl carefully and tend to its food and water before giving it the two scrolls to take back to England.

After sending the owl off, he offered to help Celeste with anything around the kitchen, but she brushed him off and told him she didn’t need any help. Sirius took two of the newspapers that were laying on the kitchen table after Celeste nodded at him. He assumed that Alicia left them there for him to see. Sirius walked back up the stairs and let himself into his little apartment.

Harry was still sleeping peacefully, so Sirius opened up his backpack and took out each item to inventory what he actually had. He had thrown things into the knapsack in a hurry last night, and he wasn’t really sure how much he had. Luckily, Harry was eating most normal foods, so Sirius didn’t have to worry about buying formula or baby food, but the six diapers that he had left were definitely not going to last long. He also only had one small travel package of baby wipes, four changes of clothing for Harry, and that’s it. Sirius knew that Harry had tons of toys and puzzles and things at home, but the only thing he had grabbed was the small stuffed white owl that had been in Harry’s crib with him.

Sirius also didn’t have anything for himself. No clothes, no toothbrush, nothing. His emergency plan had not involved taking care of himself at all. He knew how to transfigure clothing though, so he turned out his pockets to find material to work with. He had three receipts in his pocket, so he transfigured them into a new pair of pants, black long-sleeved shirt, and underwear for himself. He showered and got dressed in his new clothing, and feeling better about his situation already, set about duplicating the diapers and baby wipes. After he had a few dozen of each, he felt satisfied and sat down again.

As soon as he stilled though, his thoughts immediately drifted back to the scene from last night. He had been trying to block it out--the image of James lying dead on the floor in the hallway, the sight of Lily’s body still on the floor in front of the crib. James had been his best friend, basically his only family for years now, and he had definitely grown to love Lily over the past few years. She was becoming like family too, and now they were both dead.

And it was his fault.

He hadn’t noticed that he was crying until tears starting hitting his hands where they sat on his lap. He quickly dashed them away and jumped up, determined to busy himself some more so that he wouldn’t be able to dwell.

Sirius was sure that if he actually let himself dwell too much, he would break down, and he wasn’t sure if he would be able to pick himself back up again. His own guilt was so oppressive, that he wasn’t sure that he would be able to recover from it if he left it crush him.

It was better to just push it to the back of his mind and try to ignore it. Focus on other things. He could deal with it later, once he was in a better place. Once he was sure of Harry’s and his own safety. Once he spoke with Dumbledore. Once he was sure that Dumbledore understood, and forgave him, even if he was sure that he would never be able to forgive himself.

And Remus.

It had been months since Remus had left. Months since their fight. Remus implied that he had to leave, to do something for the order, and wasn't sure when he'd be back. He wanted to break up with Sirius, but wouldn't say what he was doing, or why he wanted to break up. When Dumbledore refused to comment on Remus' "mission", Sirius had lost it and confronted Remus. They had both said some pretty unforgivable things that night and then Remus had left.

Could Remus really believe that Sirius had switched sides? Sirius couldn’t imagine how else that sketch he had drawn could have been published. Sirius had given that picture to Remus when they were still attending Hogwarts, and Sirius knew that Remus still had it. He kept it in a journal with a few other precious pictures and mementos.

If Remus had given that picture to Dumbledore or to the Daily Prophet to use to find him, then Remus must believe that he was doing the right thing. He must believe that Sirius really was working with the Death Eaters, and that helping catch him would help to protect Harry.

Sirius shook his head. Thinking about Remus wasn’t helping either.

There were too many hurt feelings there. And even after months, they were still too raw. Remus chose to leave. He chose to leave Sirius. And because Sirius hadn’t been able to protect Remus, he had devoted all of his focus and attention on keeping James, Lily, Harry, and Wormtail safe. He cursed at his efforts. The time he had wasted trying to protect that traitor. Wormtail had always been Sirius’ least favorite of their group, the Marauders, they had called themselves while in Hogwarts, but he was still a faithful companion. Or so he had thought. Sirius had spent countless hours working for the Order of the Phoenix making sure that his friends were safe. He always did his absolute best to bring reliable information back to Dumbledore, and to catch, or even if possible, kill, as many of the Death Eaters as he could.

When Dumbledore told them all about the prophecy, they had all been astounded. The idea that either Harry or little Neville was going to be killed? Targeted by the Death Eaters and even Voldemort himself, even though they were just babies? Dumbledore immediately suggested that both the Potters and the Longbottoms go into hiding, using a Fidelius Charm in order to ensure that they were both truly safe. It was the most logical step to take.

Dumbledore offered to be both Secret Keepers, but McGonagall and Moody had both suggested choosing two different Secret Keepers, just in case anything happened to Dumbledore. They ceded to the logic of that when James insisted that Sirius be their Secret Keeper. Remus was already gone by that point, and the Longbottoms were more than happy to have Dumbledore as their Secret Keeper.

There was a flurry of activity over the following days to ensure that both families would be able to remain inside their hidden houses for an indefinite period of time. The protection of the two boys was paramount to the Order’s success--if one of them really were the key to bringing him down, then they must do everything in their power to ensure their safety.

One of Dumbledore’s biggest things during this time was secrecy. He swore each member of the Order to never speak of the prophecy, because the more people knew about it, the more there could be problems or dangers.

The night they were casting the Fidelius Charms, Sirius approached James and Lily and convinced them to make Wormtail their Secret Keeper instead. Sirius’ logic had seemed solid: everybody knew that James would have chosen Sirius because they had famously been inseparable since their first year at Hogwarts. Sirius had been best man at their wedding and was Harry’s godfather. If the Death Eaters were truly going to look for Harry, the first person they would go after was Sirius.  
As much as Sirius swore he would never reveal their secret, he reasoned, what if he physically literally could not reveal their secret because he didn’t have it? Sirius reasoned that if they made Peter the Secret Keeper, then the Death Eaters would come after Sirius, and if that happened, Peter would have a heads up that he might be in danger too. This was it would just be one additional precaution. One additional safeguard.

But apparently, instead Sirius had just handed the secret location over to a traitor. He had handed James’ location straight to the Death Eaters.

Oh that wanker, Wormtail, he must have wet himself with pleasure at how easy it was to hand that secret over to Voldemort.

And curses upon himself for not seeing it. Curses on him for letting it happen.

Harry’s sudden cry interrupted Sirius’ thoughts, and he gasped in a breath of gratitude for the distraction. Harry was rubbing at his forehead as he stood up in the crib, and Sirius picked him up and nuzzled him gently until he calmed down.


	4. Chapter 4

A few hours later, as his stomach told him that he had missed lunch, Sirius went downstairs into the kitchen of the cafe and was happy to find Alicia there.

“I can cook,” Sirius started, “but I don’t have any supplies and the apartment doesn’t have pots or anything.”

Alicia made a shushing gesture, “Don’t worry about that. You can eat with us.”

Sirius nodded, “Thank you.” He reached his hand into one of his pockets and pulled out a stack of bills and a small pile of coins, “I don’t have a lot of money on me right now, but I do have a few hundred francs and a few dozen galleons. I’ll also gladly help out around here to earn my keep.”

“Why do you have so many francs on hand?” Alicia asked curiously as she reached out and gently lifted Harry from Sirius’ arms. She handed him a slice of bread and Harry started to happily gnaw on a corner of it.

“I didn’t steal them,” Sirius began defensively, but he was interrupted.

“I did not think that you did. But you are English. Few wizards carry around muggle money, and you have the muggle currency for a country you don’t even live in?”

Sirius winced and then grinned. “Well, for a few reasons honestly. My family is very wealthy and they have found that sometimes bribing muggles is an easy and efficient way to ensure they get what they want. So they always have large stashes of muggle money on hand to be used at whatever property they might feel like visiting. Also, I hate my family, so when I ran away from home at sixteen, I stole all of the money they had hidden around the house. They couldn’t report it to the Ministry out of fear of bringing shame upon the” Sirius put on a fake pious attitude and used air quotes to imitate his father, “Noble and Most Ancient House of Black.” Then he turned and fake spat behind him. “And secondly, Paris is a very romantic city. I used to … go on dates there.”

Alicia laughed at this last part, “You would come all the way to Paris for dates?”

“It was sometimes pleasant to be far from prying eyes. And far from people we might know.”

Alicia nodded knowingly. “Sometimes it is nice to be anonymous. Particularly if you’re from such a well-known family.”

“You must have made plenty of girls swoon, taking them to Paris just for a date,” Celeste said archly from the doorway. “And look at you now: a playboy turned babysitter.”

Sirius hadn’t realized that she had been listening to them, and wondered when she had eased her way into the room.

“Jealousy does not suit you, my daughter.”

Celeste straightened up as if she had been shocked and turned and stalked away.

Sirius turned back towards Alicia, “She’s jealous?”

Alicia nodded, “Her last boyfriend, he did not take her out on any nice dates. She often complained that he did not treat her like she was special.” Alicia shrugged slightly before continuing, “I sometimes feel bad that I have chosen such a provincial, muggle-centered life. She does not often go into any of the cities, so she has not interacted with many other wizards since she left Beauxbatons, and that was almost five years ago.”

“Why do you run a muggle-bakery?” Sirius asked with genuine curiosity. He could not think of any witch or wizard that he had ever met or even heard of that chose to run a muggle business.

“My husband was a muggle,” she explained, “it was his family’s cafe. After we got married, I helped him run it. And then after he died, I just kept going. Celeste helped during summer breaks when she was in school, but after she graduated she’s been working here full-time with me. We have two part-time employees, both wizards. Adrian makes deliveries in the mornings, as well as a few other important things, and Jean-Luc helps us run the front of the store during holidays and busy times.”

“Are there many wizards in this community?” Sirius asked with some unease, “I thought this was a regular muggle town when I arrived.”

Alicia’s laugh was hearty, “No, they both live a few dozen miles out in the country and usually apparate into the garden out back. We used to have a few muggles helping out here and there on weekends, but Adrian had too many close-calls with almost being seen that we eventually had to let all of them go.”

“And Adrian only comes early in the mornings?” Sirius asked, “I think I’d like to avoid meeting anyone until I can speak with Dumbledore. Not that I don’t trust your employees.” Sirius added quickly.

“Don’t worry,” Alicia responded, “Adrian usually gets here around 5:30 in the morning and is usually done for the day by ten. He actually stopped in while Harry was napping and you were writing your letters.”

Sirius grunted. He hadn’t even realized what was going on down here. It was surprisingly quiet up in the apartment that Alicia had let him and Harry stay in.

Sirius spent the rest of the afternoon playing with Harry, and shared a surprisingly pleasant dinner with Alicia and Celeste. Afterwards, he did the dishes while  
Celeste played with Harry. She kept transfiguring little rolls into little dough men and making them run around and do gymnastics tricks. When Harry started getting sleepy around 7:30, Sirius carried him up to bed and changed him into pajamas. The two of them sat on one of the chairs in Harry’s room while Sirius sang him songs and told him stories.

Each time Sirius thought that Harry was sleepy enough to be put down in the crib, the boy would begin crying and cling to Sirius. Sirius couldn’t remember Harry ever acting like this at bedtime. Harry was still hardly more than a baby, and he hadn’t shown any outward signs of understanding what had happened to him. The few times he had cried that day were easily resolved by a snack, a cup of milk, a clean diaper, a cuddle, or something simple like that. This sudden panic about being left alone in his crib was the first sign that Harry was emotionally affected by the tragedy and trauma that he had suffered the previous night.

Sirius finally gave up on putting Harry down in the crib and let him sleep on his chest in the rocking chair. After about an hour or two, after drifting off a few times, Sirius tried to put Harry down again, but the boy started crying as soon as he was lifted from Sirius’ chest. Finally, Sirius gave up on getting any sleep without Harry touching him, so he made a wall of pillows on one edge of his bed and laid the two of them down. There was more than enough space on the queen sized bed, and if this was the only way that they would both be able to sleep, Sirius was willing to try it.

Harry slept soundly for several hours, but woke up again just before dawn with a wet diaper. Sirius changed him, and then Harry rolled over and fell asleep almost instantly. Relieved, Sirius decided to use the bathroom himself, since he hadn’t gone since before trying to put Harry down for the night.

As Sirius walked back towards the bed, he glanced out the window and saw a young man apparate into the middle of the garden. He turned towards the house and just as he was about to walk into the kitchen, glanced up at the window Sirius was standing in. Sirius felt a jolt run through him as he made eye contact: not only had this man, who Sirius presumed to be Adrian, seen him, but he was also younger and more attractive than Sirius had imagined him to be.

Sirius froze. Should he rush down and talk to Alicia and Adrian? Should he stay up here and hope that Adrian doesn’t think anything is amiss? Should he trust Alicia to handle the whole situation?

As he stood there, paralyzed by indecision, he watched as Alicia’s owl fluttered up to his window and as it was just about to peck at the window, he opened it and welcomed the bird inside. It held out its leg, and Sirius unrolled the small scrap of parchment. As he opened it, the owl floated back outside.

“ _Come down for a moment. - Alicia_ ” the scrap read.

Sirius sighed and turned to go downstairs.

As he entered the kitchen, he saw Alicia and Adrian sitting at the table with mugs in front of them, and a third mug sitting in front of an empty chair.

Sirius settled himself down in the seat and reached out to grab the mug, but he noticed it was empty. He looked up at Alicia with a question in his eyes.

“I wasn’t sure if you’d prefer tea or coffee, love.” She said as explanation.

“Oh, coffee, if you have some ready,” Sirius replied, giving Alicia a quick smile. He wasn’t sure what was happening. Adrian seemed mostly at ease, but there also seemed to be a bit of stiffness in both Alicia and Adrian’s postures.

She nodded and used her wand to summon a pot from the stove. After if poured hot coffee into Sirius’ mug, it floated back to its place on the stove.

“Merci,” Sirius said as Adrian pushed a small carafe of creamer and a matching pot of sugar towards him.

The man nodded, but didn’t say anything, continuing to stare at Sirius with serious, deep blue eyes surrounded by long dark lashes.

Alicia took a deep breath as if preparing herself, and then began talking quickly, “Adrian saw you in the window, I assume the baby woke you up?” At Sirius’ nod, she continued, “I don’t want to say too much--it should be up to you how much you share with him, but I trust Adrian. Not only do I trust him, but you should know a little more about who he is, so that you can see he is trustworthy too.”

At this Sirius wrinkled his brow in confusion, but Alicia went on.

“Adrian is one of the leaders of La Fontaine de la Bonne Fortune, have you heard of them?”

Sirius nodded slowly, “Dumbledore said they had similar motives with the Order of the Phoenix. The group was first formed to fight Grindelwald.”

“Oui. Adrian is in charge of our relocation program. He has been helping people flee England to get away from He Who Shall Not be Named.”

“It’s mostly families with members who are from muggle families,” Adrian explained quietly. “The Death Eaters have been targeting those they call mudbloods, yes? Many families, particularly those with young children, have been slowly coming south over the past few years. We help them relocate, sometimes change their names, maybe move on, to Spain or America.”

“Why with young children?” Sirius asked as he leaned towards Adrian.

The blue-eyed man sighed and took a sip of his coffee, “Some say they worry that their children might not have magic. What is the word in English?” He looked towards Alicia.

“Squib,” she offered.

Adrian nodded, “Yes. They worry their children might be squibs. Not that that’s a problem, necessarily. But in the current climate…” he shrugged as an ending to his explanation.

Sirius nodded in response. Being muggle-born had its own risks as it was, but it also posed potential problems for children--if only one child is from an established wizarding family, it’s definitely possible they could take after their parent who was from muggle heritage.

Children like Harry, Sirius realized.

His eyes widened as he looked up at Alicia, “I hadn’t even thought about it.”

She nodded but Adrian looked confused, “You didn’t consider the fact that your baby might be at risk?”

At this Sirius couldn’t hold back his harsh laugh, “You have no idea. My godson was more at risk than almost any other child in the entire wizarding world. I just hadn't thought about the one particular risk that he might not have magic. But I hope that he’s safer now.”

At Adrian’s continued confused look, Alicia whispered, “Tell him who the child is.”

Adrian looked sharply at Sirius, “And who you are, if you don’t mind.”

Sirius took a deep breath and slowly exhaled before responding, “I am Sirius Black, godfather to Harry Potter, the boy who is sleeping upstairs, who is the only person ever to survive the killing curse.”

Adrian’s eyes widened almost comically, but his response was even, “And you are here because…?”

“I swore to his mother that I would do everything I could to keep him safe.”

“And fleeing England?”

Sirius shook his head and scowled, “James and Lily’s house was under the Fidelius Charm. The only way that Voldemort found them was because someone within the Order betrayed them. I know who it was, but I don’t know if there were others. And Wormtail, the traitor, knows all of the places and people I would normally hide out. I figured the only truly safe way was to leave the country,” then Sirius looks sheepishly at Alicia, “and spend time amongst muggles. I failed at that last part pretty quickly though.”

Alicia laughed, “Well, in your defense, my cafe has no outward signs that it isn’t a regular muggle establishment.”

Sirius shrugged and looked back at Adrian.

Adrian leaned forward, “Well, we can definitely help you relocate if you would like. Particularly if we can get a woman to travel with you. A couple with a child would draw a lot less attention than a single man with a child.”

“I don’t want to leave completely until I talk with Dumbledore,” Sirius said while shaking his head.

Celeste poked her head into the kitchen from the front of the cafe, “Mother, the deliveries.”

Alicia and Adrian both jumped up a rushed over to the bags and packages. They each spent less than a moment waving their wands, and then each parcel vanished, presumably sent to their destinations. They turned to return to their seats at the table.

“Is this whole business a front?” Sirius asked.

They both blushed but shook their heads, “I do rely on the profits,” Alicia explained, “And Adrian really does help with deliveries.”

“But Alicia also helps La Fontaine from time to time. She told you that she has often fostered people here?” Adrian offered and continued after Sirius nodded, “We use this house as a safe-house sometimes. Not regularly, of course, because that would be too suspicious, but sometimes. We have a network of homes and businesses throughout northern France. Alicia’s is ideal because it does blend in so well with the muggle world.”

“It also helps that my neighbors think that Celeste and I are a bit odd, and that our family members who visit are even odder than we are. That way, if anything out of the ordinary happens, they actually think it’s just us being our normal, odd selves.”

Sirius took a deep sigh and asked the question that had been plaguing him since he saw the roof blown off of Harry’s room, “Is Voldemort really gone? I read the papers… but it’s hard to tell what is fact and what is conjecture.”

“All of my contacts have said that he appears to be gone. There’s a quote from Dumbledore in the paper saying that the killing curse rebounded off of the baby and hit He Who Must Not be Named,” Adrian responded. “Nobody really understands how or why it happened, but most people are just so happy that they’re not questioning it too deeply.”

“But the Death Eaters haven’t given up?” Sirius pushed.

Adrian shook his head sadly, “Some of turned themselves in, claiming to have been Imperiused, but others seem to be looking for their master.”

“And they are the ones who pose a threat to Harry now, if Voldemort really is gone.” Sirius nodded and turned back to Adrian, “Can you get a message to Dumbledore?”

“Yes, but it might take some time.”

Sirius nodded and pulled out his wand to summon a parchment from his room. He quickly scrawled another note to Dumbledore, with much the same sentiment as his last, just much shorter. Adrian watched him while he wrote, sipping from his mug quietly. At the end, Sirius sealed it the scroll and handed it over to Adrian. He saluted briefly with the scroll, said goodbye to Alicia, and left out the door into the quickly brightening back garden.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> La Fontaine de la Bonne Fortune is based on the story The Fountain of Fair Fortune from Tales of Beedle the Bard.
> 
> I have no idea if there is any sort of canon resistance movement in France or Europe, and I don't feel like doing the research, sorry.


	5. Chapter 5

Sirius went back up to find that Harry was still sleeping soundly. He didn’t want to bother the baby, but he was feeling more drained than he ever really remembered feeling. He had only slept for a few hours that night, and none at all the previous night, so he laid back down next to Harry and almost immediately fell back asleep. 

Harry woke Sirius up by poking a finger up his nostril, and Sirius woke with a jolt and then immediately started laughing. Harry was laughing as well, and the restless upset child from the night before was seemingly gone. 

They had breakfast down in the kitchen while both Celeste and Alicia worked in the front. Sirius made scrambled eggs for both of them and they shared a half a loaf of bread that was sitting on the counter. 

After they finished eating and Sirius washed their dishes, he took Harry back upstairs and put on a sweater. Sirius had duplicated four copies of the sweater and changed the colors on each to avoid monotony. Sirius chose the red sweater for Harry and a dark blue one for himself. They went downstairs and out into the back garden area so that Harry could walk around and explore. Harry had started walking weeks ago, but he still fell down every few moments, and the uneven ground made it even more difficult. 

Luckily, Harry thought it was funny when Sirius hurried over to pick him up again, and after a few minutes, Sirius realized that Harry was actually doing it on purpose. Step, step, step, fall. Sirius would rush over and make a big show out of lifting Harry up and righting him on his feet, while Harry giggled the whole time. Both of them were laughing when Adrian apparated a few feet away, suddenly appearing beneath an apple tree. 

Harry was on the ground and didn't see Adrian appear out of nowhere, but when he turned around his giggle died. Sirius picked him up and Harry buried his face in Sirius’ neck. 

“I didn't mean to scare him,” Adrian said as he slowly walked towards them. 

“I think it's okay,” Sirius responded, “Harry, this is my friend Adrian,” Sirius continued as he tried to direct Harry's attention towards Adrian. Harry looked up slowly and after looking at the young man for a few seconds, straightened up and smiled at Sirius again. Sirius put Harry down, and he slowly toddled away from the two men, vaguely chasing after a butterfly.

Adrian stepped closer so he was next to Sirius and the two of them silently watched Harry for a moment before Adrian spoke, “I passed the message along to my contact in Bath.”

Sirius nodded but just continued to watch Harry. He was trying to figure out if Adrian was standing closer than normal to his side, or if he honestly could even judge what normal was anymore. The people he had spent the most time with after graduating from Hogwarts were all members of the Order of the Phoenix, and were all like family to him. And up until recent months, Remus and James were the two men he spent the most time with, and they had lost all sense of personal space years ago. But then again, Adrian did a lot of work that relied on secrecy, so the close proximity may have just been a side effect of his work.

Then Adrian leaned over slightly and bumped his shoulder into Sirius, “Don't worry. La Fontaine has your back now. You'll both be safe.”

Sirius looked at Adrian and saw the sincerity in his eyes. Whether or not Sirius trusted him or his group, it was obvious that Adrian had full confidence in his people. Sirius returned Adrian’s grin and leaned towards him so that their shoulders were resting against each other. Sirius closed his eyes for a second as he felt the warmth seep through his sweater; other than Harry, Sirius couldn’t remember the last person he had touched in more than just passing. It had been months since he had seen Remus, and almost two weeks since he had spent any amount of time with James or Lily. They had exchanged long hugs before going into hiding within their Fidelius Charm, but before that? Sirius couldn’t think of any one single incident. He had devoted himself so completely to working for the Order that he hadn’t had much time to interact with people in non-work related capacities. Sirius hadn't been held or touched anyone for any length of time other than Hagrid's crushing embrace from the night before, and he had been genuinely nervous about Hagrid hurting Harry on accident.

This gentle, companionable touching of their shoulders was the closest thing to a real hug he had experienced in a while. A Sirius felt tears welling in his eyes. He had managed not to break down, but he reminded himself it had still only been a little more than a day since he had seen the dead body of his best friend. 

The murdered body of his best friend. 

And he had just stepped past it to get to Harry. 

Stepped past the body of his best friend. 

Abandoned him. 

Sirius didn’t realize that he had started sobbing until he felt Adrian’s arms wrap around him. He buried his face in Adrian’s shoulder and tried to stifle the sobs, but that just seemed to make them wrack his body harder. Adrian just kept his arms wrapped tight around Sirius’ back, gently rubbing his back and murmuring softly in French. 

After a few minutes, Sirius was able to collect himself enough to slightly disentangle from Adrian’s comforting arms. He glanced around and was on the verge of becoming frantic when he couldn’t spot Harry, but Adrian quickly said, “Alicia brough him inside.”

Sirius nodded and summoned a handkerchief from his room. He blew his nose and wiped the tears from his face. “Thank you,” he said softly to Adrian. 

“You found his parents, didn’t you?” 

Sirius nodded, “I did. I’ve… lost people before. But James has been my best friend since we started school. He was the first person to like me for me, and not for my family.”

“I’m impressed that you were able to take care of Harry,” Adrian said softly, “most people would have broken down instantly upon seeing the body of their best friend.”

Sirius took a deep breath, “I promised to take care of Harry, no matter what. I offered to make the Unbreakable Vow. I would have. That’s how much he means to me.”

Adrian’s eyes widened, “Not many people would offer to make an Unbreakable Vow. That is usually something that has to be requested of them.”

“I think that’s why Lily was satisfied, because I offered. James said he trusted me no matter what, but I think the offer of doing it is what won Lily over. I was… a troublemaker in school. But I was loyal to my friends above everything else. Once James married Lily… she became part of our family too. And Harry is my godson. When he was born, I knew he was the closest thing to a son I’d probably ever have. And now…” Sirius took another deep sigh, “Now he’s all I have left.”

Adrian rubbed up and down Sirius’ arms, finally dropping down to hold both of his hands, “We’ll make sure that he stays safe. I’ll make sure. I promise.”

Sirius nodded and sighed again, “Thank you Adrian. That means a lot to me. I trust that we’re safe enough from the Death Eaters now, I would just feel so much better if Dumbledore would respond to me.”

“I’m checking in with my contact from Bath tonight. It’s early, but there’s a chance she’ll have news already.”

Sirius nodded and attempted to smile as he looked back up at Adrian's face. His eyes really were a striking blue color. Sirius watched as Adrian's eyes dropped down an inch or two, before darting back up to Sirius' eyes. Had Adrian glanced at his lips? Reflexively, Sirius repeated the gesture, glancing down at Adrian's lips. Adrian's lush and inviting lips that had just parted as if about to speak.

Alicia stuck her head out of the kitchen and interrupted whatever Adrian was about to say, “Boys, are you hungry? It’s lunchtime.”

Adrian dropped his arms and smiled somewhat sheepishly down at Sirius. “Let’s go eat,” he said softly and Sirius managed a true grin back at him. 

Sirius found Harry happily ensconced in his high chair with a bowl of applesauce in front of him that he was happily digging through with a spoon. The applesauce in his hair, on his cheeks, and spread across his bare arms and chest proved that Alicia had made a smart decision when she stripped his clothes off before serving him. 

Harry crowed happily when he saw Sirius and waved his messy spoon around, “Whoa baby,” Sirius said with a laugh as he redirected Harry’s dripping spoon, “You want to be careful where you aim that thing. Is he getting any of that into his mouth?” Sirius asked Alicia.

“About half,” she replied contentedly. “But we have entirely too many apples and he is really enjoying himself.”

Sirius grinned and ruffled Harry’s hair, but mock grimaced when his hand came away sticky.

The three adults sat down to a delicious onion soup, and Sirius and Adrian kept finding innocent reasons to gently bump into each other. At first, Sirius reached for the salt and his elbow gently grazed against Adrian’s. Then, Adrian passed the pitcher of water across the table to Alicia, his knee bumped against Sirius’. After each seemingly accidental touch, the two made eye contact, although nothing was said about it. 

Sirius finished eating first and after bringing his bowl to the sink, grabbed a washcloth and gave Harry a thorough scrub down. The boy giggled sleepily the whole time, and fell asleep almost instantly after Sirius picked him up. 

“That boy sleeps well,” Alicia observed. 

“He sleeps well during the day,” Sirius corrected. 

Alicia nodded, “I did hear him crying last night. Perhaps the unfamiliar room upset him?”

Sirius shook his head, “I actually think the room is too familiar. He was in his crib when Voldemort attacked.”

Both Adrian and Alicia sucked in a breath at that. “And you think he was having… flashbacks or something?” Alicia asked. 

Sirius shrugged. “He napped just fine in the crib yesterday, but once it got dark he started panicking whenever I tried to put him in. He ended up sleeping in bed with me.”

Alicia nodded, “He’s too young to really understand what happened. But perhaps the crib itself it too traumatic of a setting for him.”

“I’m going to see if he’ll sleep there now, but since he’s already out, I should be able to just put him down.” 

Sirius quietly moved up the stairs and successfully laid Harry down in his crib. The boy just rolled over and flopped onto his stomach without opening his eyes. 

Sirius left the apartment and went to go back downstairs to join Alicia and Adrian, but he paused when he saw Adrian coming up the stairs. 

“What’s up?” Sirius asked with surprise.

Adrian paused too, as if unsure of how to start. “I know we only just met,” Adrian started, stepping closer to Sirius, “but I feel like there’s something between us. Sometime worth exploring.” As he spoke, he stepped closer, into Sirius’ personal space, and lifted his hand to gently cup Sirius’ jawline. 

Sirius could have stepped back. He could have pushed him away. He could have done a hundred things to stop Adrian as he slowly moved forward, but his mind was racing so quickly that he couldn’t get one single idea to form. Just as Adrian’s lips were about to touch his, Sirius spoke, “There’s somebody,” he said. “Back home. I think."


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so hey - this scene that had originally started out as relatively PG definitely turned into a lot more. I'm going to have to change the overall rating for this fic....

Adrian pulled back slightly so he could comfortably look Sirius in the eye, but didn’t drop his hand from Sirius’ face, “Oh?”

“We… we haven’t spoken in months. And he left on bad terms.”

Something in Adrian’s eyes sparkled, “He?”

“We were in love,” Sirius tried to explain, “I was in love. And he left to maybe do something for Dumbledore. I...I don’t even know if he’s alive,” Sirius confided, and he knew that he couldn’t hide the hurt and uncertainty that he felt. 

Adrian tightened one arm around Sirius’ waist, “I understand. This doesn’t have to be serious. It can just be… for now.”

Sirius hesitated for a moment before grinning slightly and lifting his face to finish what Adrian had started a moment earlier. Adrian’s lips felt warm and comforting, but also sparked a feeling in Sirius that he hadn’t felt in months, and had doubted he would ever feel again. 

Adrian’s hands moved to Sirius’ back, and he tangled one of his hands into Sirius’ hair. Sirius wrapped his arms around Adrian’s back and pulled their bodies flush together, which led the men to deepen the kiss. Sirius focused all of his attention and energy on the warm points where his body pressed against Adrian’s, where their tongues met, separated, and met again, where their hands grazed along hemlines and then below, to the sweet warmth of skin on skin. It was glorious to focus only on the physical, and not worry about anything else other than how he could get access to more skin.

Adrian gently pushed Sirius up against the hall wall, and Sirius let out a soft gasp as his back met the hard surface. “Let’s go inside,” Sirius said softly, lips brushing against Adrian’s as he talked, “my room is separate from Harry’s.”

Adrian nodded and Sirius felt like his eyes probably mirrored the hungry fierceness that appeared in Adrian’s. They stumbled their way quietly into Sirius’ room and after slowly closing the door, Sirius turned to Adrian, “That would have probably gone smoother if we had taken our hands off of each other.”

Adrian smiled as he kissed Sirius’ neck and ran his hands up under Sirius’ sweater, “That wouldn’t have been as much fun.”

Sirius pushed Adrian backwards until he hit the edge of the bed and then with a nudge got him to sprawl backwards. Sirius lifted his sweater off and then pulled his shirt off as well. Adrian sat back up and ran his hands along Sirius’ torso, kissing from his collar bone down towards his nipple. He brought his hands down to the button on Sirius’ pants and undid it, slowly working his pants down his hips. Sirius gasped as Adrian softly bit at his nipple, and then pushed him back so he could step out of his pants and toss his socks off. He reached towards Adrian and quickly divested him of his sweater, shirt and pants as well, and then climbed on the bed over him, causing Adrian to lean back and grin up at him.

Their lips met again as Sirius leaned down and both their hands roamed across the newly bare skin. Sirius was surprised by the amount of muscles Adrian had - from underneath his sweater, Sirius hadn’t thought the man was particularly muscular. But there they are. A relatively well-defined six pack. And those shoulders. Sirius dropped his head to kiss across Adrian’s neck down to his collarbone. 

Adrian arched his back as Sirius sucked a deep purple mark low on his neck and both men groaned as their cocks finally made contact. Even through the layers of underwear, Sirius could feel how Adrian’s cock was straining to get out, straining to make contact. He gasped as Adrian reached down pushed his underwear down, revealing his own. 

Adrian pushed on Sirius' shoulders and flipped him onto his back, pulled his underwear all the way off, got rid of his own too. He leaned forward quickly, simultaneously aligning their lips and cocks. Sirius reached down to grab at Adrian's cock and felt a thrill run up his spine; he had never touched a penis other than his own or Remus'. It felt fantastic.

They both froze at the sound of Harry’s cry and let out simultaneous groans of frustration. Sirius rolled off the bed and painfully hopped into a pair of pants and grabbing a shirt started wiping his hands as he stumbled into Harry’s room. 

“Hey little man,” Sirius crooned as he walked towards Harry and lowered his head so they were level and Sirius could kiss the top of Harry’s head. Harry had stopped crying once Sirius came in and giggled a little as Sirius’ scruff tickled his head. Sirius used his wand to cast a quick cleansing spell on his hands and then quickly picked up Harry and snuggled against him. 

He walked back into his bedroom just in time to see Adrian waving his wand around as the blankets and pillows fixed themselves and his own hair settled into a more presentable style. Adrian grinned as he looked up at Sirius, and Sirius returned the wide smile. He leaned over and put Harry in the center of the bed as he turned and grabbed a new shirt out of the dresser. Adrian tossed a pair of socks to Sirius and he gladly pulled him on as well. 

As Sirius was pulling his socks on, Adrian kneeled down next to the bed and began to play peek-ah-boo with Harry. Harry started giggling after the second time that Adrian popped up above the edge of the bed, and after watching the two of them play for a moment, Sirius dropped down on the other end of the bed, and the two men kept popping up at random intervals, until eventually Harry fell over because he was laughing so hard. He kept laughing as he watched his legs float up into the air and started waving his arms around. 

Sirius and Adrian both rose and sat on the bed, and Sirius patted Harry on the bottom as he rolled back and forth on the bed. 

“I want to stay,” Adrian said softly, over the sound of Harry’s giggles with an air of great reluctance. 

Sirius nodded, “You know where I am. Come back when you can.”

Adrian reached up and ran his hand along Sirius’ jawline, finally resting his hand at the back of his neck with his fingers tangled in Sirius’ hair, “I will come back,” he said firmly, “I’m going to check in with my friend from Bath. I’ll let you know if there’s any news from Dumbledore. But also, I’m coming back for you, for this.”

Sirius leaned his forehead against Adrian’s forehead and sighed, “Thank you.”


	7. Chapter 7

Alicia loaned Sirius a stroller, and made a few recommendations for places they might like to visit around town, starting with the nearest playground.

Harry enjoyed playing at the playground and kept wanting to go down the slide over and over again. Eventually, Sirius decided to load Harry back up again and they wandered down another street. They found a store that sold children’s clothes and toys, and Sirius bought every toy that Harry demonstrated any interest in. He also bought a few more sets of clothing for Harry so that he could have more variety. He decided to grab one of the thick winter jackets that they had on display, because even though it wasn’t quite cold enough for it yet, Sirius wanted to be prepared.

He bundled up all of his bags and decided to head back to Alicia’s for now, and leave other exploring for tomorrow, when he wasn’t weighed down with bags. Harry seemed to favor a red haired rag doll, and he clutched it tightly next to the white owl that he basically hadn’t let out of his arms length since Sirius had rescued him from his destroyed house.

When they arrived back in Alicia’s kitchen, she was standing at the stove cooking, “Ah! You’re back! And you went shopping!” Sirius nodded as he unbuckled Harry from the stroller and set him on his feet. Harry immediately walked up to Alicia and held his two toys aloft for her to look at. “What a handsome little friend you have gotten,” Alicia exclaimed as she bent down to examine Harry’s toys.

Satisfied, he waddled back over to Sirius and lifted his arms to be picked up. Sirius froze as he looked down at Harry and hurried to put down all of the bags that he had just lifted off of the stroller handles so that he could pick him up.

Celeste walked in at that moment, “Oh Harry, let me hold you, sweet baby.”

Harry looked over at her welcoming open arms and turned and walked towards her. Sirius let out a sigh. As much as he didn’t have any particular fondness for Celeste because she had been restrained and reserved around him, he was still happy that Harry was trusting enough to go to her. He understood that it was normal for children to be slightly nervous around strangers, and Harry, if anyone had more reason to be afraid of strangers. But the fact that Harry was able to open up around Celeste after such a short period of time made Sirius feel confident that the young boy would grow up to have normal reactions to new people in the future.

“I’m going to run some of these clothes upstairs,” Sirius said while hefting the bags up.

“Go,” Alicia said, “And then come back down. I need an extra pair of hands and if Celeste is playing with Harry, that means you’re going to be my sous chef.”

“Of course,” Sirius said as he rushed towards the stairs. He couldn’t help but smile. He had never cooked at home, and barely spent any time at all in the kitchen. His family’s ancient and miserable house elf had done all of the cooking for them, and his mother would have rather chopped her own hand off than be caught cooking her own food. But when Sirius had been unofficially adopted into James’ family, he had experienced a whole new way of life. The Potters were a pure-blood family that was almost as old and established as the Blacks, and almost as wealthy as well. However, while Sirius’ family was constantly worried about upholding traditions and displaying their wealth and pure-blood status, the Potters were more interested in having fun, enjoying time spent together, and experiencing new things. Their house elf cooked sometimes, but she was mostly occupied with cleaning the house. Sirius had never met a pleasant house elf before, but Taddy was such a nice little elf, and he had multiple conversations with her over the years.

James and his parents would often cook together, eat together, and then play a game or go for a walk together after dinner. Sirius’s family rarely ever spent time together when they weren’t required to. James and his family actually enjoyed spending time together, and when James started bringing Sirius home with him on vacations and breaks, his parents had welcomed Sirius with open arms. They taught Sirius everything he knew about cooking, and while he would never claim to be an expert, he felt comfortable following Alicia’s directions as she pointed him around her kitchen and directed him to cut, stir, and saute assorted things.

After they finished eating, Sirius helped Celeste to clear the table and pack away the extra food that they hadn’t eaten.

“I didn’t expect you to be so… normal,” she said softly.

“That’s, um, strange?” Sirius replied with confusion, “How did you expect me to be?”

“I went to school with a girl named Madeleine Prewett,” Celeste started out, “She spoke very proudly of how closely she was related to the Great and Noble House of Black. She was insufferable.” Celeste turned now to face Sirius head on. “I thought you would be like her. Superbly proud of your pure blood. Disdainful of all of us that didn’t share it.”

Sirius chuckled, “It’s almost funny, to be the black sheep of the Black family. I haven’t seen or spoken to my parents since the day before I turned seventeen. And before that, I only returned home with they directly summoned me. I was more afraid that they would make trouble for James’ parents than cause any harm to me. They thought my blood was far too valuable to spill,” he added on bitterly.

“You wouldn’t be likely to continue the family line if you were permanently maimed or injured?” Celeste guessed.

Sirius nodded, “Not that there’s any chance of that anyway.” He paused for a moment, “You’re not still in touch with Madeleine, are you?”

Celeste scoffed, “As if she would be in touch with me, a half-blood witch who chooses to work in a muggle-based business.”

Sirius grinned ruefully, “Right. Madeleine isn’t actually as bad as some of my aunts, but she was always a little too proud of her uncle marrying into our family.”

Celeste propped her fist on her hip, “But you’re nothing like her.”

“Thanks,” Sirius said with a nod. “And you really care about taking care of the baby?”

Sirius nodded again, “Harry is my family. The only family I have left. And I’m all he has.” He looked fondly over at Harry who was trying to feed Alicia the last of his food. “I think we’ll make a good team.”

“You don’t think anyone will question why you’re raising him alone?” Celeste asked, “Or why his skin is so much darker than yours? You don’t really look like you could be his father.”

Sirius laughed, “Oh please. The difference in our skin tones will probably be the last thing people are concerned with. Plus, Lily, Harry’s mother was one of the palest people I’ve ever met. She was one of those redheads who are so pale that even her eyelashes were red. I used to make fun of her when we were students,” Sirius shook his head, “until James started to like her and hexed me for it. I was sort of a jerk as a kid.”

Celeste laughed at that, “Coming from your family, I’m impressed that you ever grew out of it.” She opened the fridge and took out ingredients to start making a dessert.

Sirius began washing and slicing strawberries while Celeste began putting a dough together. “It was kind of hard,” Sirius admits, “I never really liked the way my family judged people and treated them, but it took a long time before I was able to fully divorce myself from those actions myself. James and his family helped me with that a lot. They were pure-blood, almost pure enough for my family to accept, but they were also immigrants. They only came to England the year before James started Hogwarts; they fled the muggle Bengali independence war because they didn’t want to get involved. They were warm and loving in a way that my family never was. They gave me different role models for what life could be like: they were still pure blood, but their lives were happy. My eleven-year old brain was able to find enough similarity between us and marvel at how different and better life could be than what I was used to.”

“And what was Lily like?”

“She was muggle born. First in her family. But she was also the brightest witch in our year. She was hands down the best potion maker, and it drove Remus crazy because she always just beat him in grades,” Sirius was enjoying reminiscing about his friends.

“Remus?” Celeste asked, “you haven’t mentioned him before.”

Sirius felt his eyebrows furrow, “Remus was one of our friends. He was, I thought he might have been more than that, but…” Sirius shakes his head. “He was one of the best students in our year. He was always big on following rules and we often fought about that. I haven’t seen him or spoken to him in months.”

“Was he part of the Order of the Phoenix too?”

“Yes, but then I think Dumbledore might asked him to do something, something he refused to talk about, and then he just left.”

“He ran away?” She asked with confusion.

“I don’t know. I don’t know if he went on the mission. I don’t know if he was too afraid and ran away. And Dumbledore wouldn’t ever tell me anything.”

“That sounds very frustrating,” she admitted. “But if he won’t tell you anything, it must be some kind of secret mission, right?”

“But… Remus should have told me. He should have told me something. We were… I thought that we were more to each other,” Sirius said and couldn’t keep his head from falling.

“More to each other… like you and Adrian?” She asked softly.

Sirius looked up sharply, “How…?”

“I went up to bring laundry into my apartment. It’s just down the hall from yours. I didn’t mean to eavesdrop… but the walls are thin. I’m sorry.”

“Does… does your mom know?”

“I didn’t say anything. But Sirius, it won’t matter. She won’t care about that. You’re one of her lost puppies now. Nothing could change that.”

“Are you sure? A lot of people are okay in theory, but when they actually meet a… a gay man, they feel differently.”

Celeste paused kneading the dough she had been working on turned to face Sirius, “She knows about Adrian. She still chooses to work with him and trust him. I think she’ll actually be happy to know that the two of you are… together.”

“Why?”

“Because Adrian deserves to be happy,” she said with a simple shrug as she returned to her dough. “Even if it’s just for a while, until you move on. He’s a good man, but in his line of work... he doesn't stay still much, so it's been hard for him to find love.” She lifted the dough into a bowl and covered it so it could prove for a while and took Sirius’ strawberries, plums, and peaches and put them into a pot and began making a jelly. “Now, I just want to meet a good man who is actually interested in women,” she said with a self-deprecating laugh.

“Are you two done with the sink for a while? I think this messy boy needs a bath,” Alicia said as she lifted Harry up and held him apart from his body. He was covered from the top of his head down to about his knees with food, and Sirius laughed as he lifted Harry out of her arms. “You get him started. I’ll go grab a towel and some shampoo.”

Sirius and Celeste bathed Harry, which involved a lot of bubbles and laughter. After wrapping Harry up in several towels, Sirius carried him upstairs and changed him into pajamas. He brought the rocking chair into his bedroom, and sitting in it, read Harry several new books he had purchased and after a few songs, Harry fell asleep in Sirius’ arms. Sirius continued to hold him and rock for almost half an hour before gently transferring Harry to his bed. Sirius ducked into the bathroom where he changed and got ready for bed. He quietly let himself back into bed, and Harry rolled over and grasped onto the front of Sirius’ shirt as soon as he had settled down. Sirius wrapped an arm gently around Harry and felt himself drift off to sleep.

**

Sirius tensed as a sound woke him from sleep. He grabbed his wand from under his pillow and slowly sat up while placing a comforting hand on Harry’s back so that he wouldn’t wake up with the sudden lack of a warm body by his side.

Sirius squinted into the darkness but wasn’t sure what had woken him. “Lumos,” he whispered as he rose from the bed. He silently padded into the living room area and froze when he saw a figure standing near the table. “Expelliarmus,” he whispered fiercely and then froze when he saw Adrian’s startled face turn towards him. Sirius caught Adrian’s wand with a wry grin and turned the lamp on.

“Sorry,” Adrian said quickly, “I didn’t want to wake you, but I got a message back from Dumbledore. I figured you’d want it as soon as you woke up, so I was going to leave it on the table instead of keeping it with me until I finished all of my other rounds.” He held out a scroll. Sirius took the scroll and placed Adrian’s wand into his hand in return. “Thanks, and sorry for waking you up. You have really quick reflexes,” he said ruefully.

Sirius grimaced, “It’s from years of worrying about being attacked by Death Eaters, not to mention fighting them.” Adrian reached across the distance between them to cup the back of Sirius’ neck, “How many years could it have been? You look like you only graduated a year or two ago.”

Sirius snorted but stepped closer to Adrian so that their bodies were just a hair’s breadth apart, “I’m twenty one. I’ve been a member of the Order since I was seventeen, but there were Death Eater recruits at Hogwarts, just like there were Order recruits. How long have you been part of La Fontaine?”

“My parents were members, so, kind of my whole life. But I wasn’t official until I turned seventeen too. That was eight years ago.”

Sirius leaned up and planted a soft kiss on Adrian’s lips before freezing and pulling back, “Wait, you said Dumbledore.” He suddenly looked down at the scroll in his own hand and began unrolling it.

Adrian chuckled and said, “I have to go, but I’ll be back around noon.”

Sirius slowly unraveled the parchment and stared blankly at it as Adrian quietly exited the room.

There were only four words written in Dumbledore’s neat script. Sirius had been expecting a long letter. Maybe something acknowledging that he believed that Sirius was innocent and that he understood what had motivated him and didn't blame him for what had happened. Sirius had known that was a long shot to expect anyway, but he was still shocked that the entire letter consisted of only four words.

Four.

_Read today's Daily Prophet._

That's it?

_Read._

_Today's._

_Daily._

_Prophet._

Sirius usually read the Daily Prophet every day, and he had been grateful when he saw that Alicia had the Daily Prophet delivered each day so that he could stay up to date. It had been painful to read the paper yesterday because it had cast some pretty damaging aspersions against him, since it assumed that he was the one who was responsible for James and Lily's death. They also kept referring to Harry as The Boy Who Lived.

While Sirius could admit that he had no explanation for why Harry was the only person ever to survive the killing curse, he didn't like that Harry was being relegated to such a heroic position. He was still just a baby, and a baby that had just suffered trauma, not one who should be celebrated as a hero. He needed protection, not praise.

Sirius ducked his head back in to check on Harry, and when he saw that he was still asleep, he hurried downstairs to see if the Prophet had been delivered yet. When he saw that it hadn't, he trudged back upstairs and slipped into bed again. If he couldn't read whatever message Dumbledore wanted him to see yet, he might as well get some sleep.

A few hours later, Harry woke him by sticking a wet finger in his ear. “You have to stop waking me up this way,” Sirius scolded while laughing. Harry giggled and tried to shove a fist in his mouth.

Sirius changed them into new clothes and carried Harry downstairs, where Alicia met them holding the Prophet. “Trade,” she declared as she offered the newspaper.

Sirius nodded and rushed to read the cover, but he froze instantly. Instead of his picture or Harry's, he was staring at a picture of his former childhood friend, Peter Pettigrew. A surge of rage that flushed through him like a forest fire, but Sirius’ eyes darted to the headline: “Potters Betrayed by Long-time ‘Friend’ who was really a Traitor and Unregistered Animagus” Sirius quickly read through the entire cover article:

_Peter Pettigrew, a longtime friend of James Potter, was just revealed to be their Secret Keeper. It had previously been presumed that Sirius Black was the Secret Keeper for the Potters, but a recent interview with Albus Dumbledore, Hogwarts Headmaster and presumed leader of the Order of the Phoenix, revealed that Black and the Potters decided to use Black as a decoy. It was widely known that James Potter and Sirius Black were the best of friends through all of Hogwarts. Black even lived with the Potter family in between breaks at Hogwarts and was Best Man at their wedding. It was assumed that Black would be the obvious choice to be Secret Keeper, so they decided to make Pettigrew the Secret Keeper instead, hoping that no one would figure it out._

_Unfortunately for the Potters, Peter Pettigrew was really a Death Eater. The traitor voluntarily went to He Who Must Not be Named and gave him the information about the Potter’s hiding place. This evidence was collected by Albus Dumbledore and a group of highly trained Aurors. After being tipped off about Pettigrew’s involvement, Dumbledore and the Aurors surrounded him, gathered the evidence and a confession from Pettigrew. “The man seemed very weak-willed,” one Auror observed. “He confessed almost as soon as Dumbledore started questioning him. He also seemed remorseful for what he had done. Not quite like he regretted doing it, just that he was saddened by the deaths he caused.” Just as the Aurors were preparing to arrest Pettigrew, the man used his unregistered Animagus ability and turned into a rat. Once he shifted, it was easy for him to disappear. If anyone sees a rat behaving oddly, or a 21-year-old man attempting to escape justice, please contact the ministry._

**

Sirius stared at the last sentence before looking up at Alicia with wide eyes.

“Keep reading,” she said.

Sirius looked back down at the paper and read the second, smaller article on the cover. “The Boy Who Lived Living with Godfather.”

_Harry Potter, The Boy Who Lived, the only known person to survive the Killing Curse and possible cause of the death and downfall of He Who Must Not be Named, is currently living with his godfather and legal guardian, Sirius Black. Initially, there was concern that Sirius Black might have secretly been a Death Eater who may have kidnapped the boy. However, Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts and close friend of Sirius Black has recently confirmed that Black rescued young Harry from the wrecked remains of his house after the encounter with He Who Must Not be Named. Black left a message for Dumbledore and has since corresponded with him confirming Harry's safety._

_Black did not remain on the scene with young Harry out of fear of a reactionary attack from Death Eaters. Black said he plans to remain in hiding until he feels confident that none of the remaining Death Eaters will target his godson. This seems to be a wise idea, particularly based on the actions of the few suspected Death Eaters who are still on the loose. For additional information on the continued threat Death Eaters pose, read the article “Death Eaters arrested in the Cruel Torture of Longbottom Auror Couple” on page 3._

**

“Well, that settles that for now, at least,” Sirius said as he folded the newspaper. He planned on reading the rest of it, particularly that part about the Longbottoms, but for now he wanted to make sure that Harry was all set with his breakfast.

“That settles what? What did the message from Dumbledore say this morning?” Alicia asked with concern. He pulled the small piece of paper out of his pocket and handed it to her silently while he served himself some breakfast. He sat down next to Harry and ruffled his hair as the small boy tried with determination to get food in his mouth. “This is the whole message?” Sirius nodded as he began to eat. “And you're satisfied? What is settled? What does it mean?”

“Well, I would guess that Dumbledore still isn't sure who he can trust, and he must have been very busy during the last few days if he tracked down Peter, cornered him with a group of Aurors, dealt with the fallout of Peter’s escape, did at least one interview with the Prophet, and he's probably been involved with the arrests of the Death Eaters who tortured Frank and Alice Longbottom. I do hope they're alright,” Sirius added thoughtfully as he opened the page to begin reading the article about them.

“So that justifies him not sending you a more thorough message?”

Sirius shrugged, “Dumbledore doesn't always act like other people. But after almost ten years, I think I'm beginning to understand how he works.”

“So will you be leaving us soon?” Alicia asked as she wiped Harry's face, “Since Dumbledore understands and believes you, will you be returning back home?”

Sirius shook his head, “No. Dumbledore said in the interview that I'm in hiding to avoid the attention of remaining Death Eaters. That was a message. He thinks that Harry is still in danger, and he thinks that it's better for us to stay in hiding while he sorts everything out. I'm actually surprised- he all but said he was proud of my quick thinking.”

Alicia spluttered for a second, “Did we read the same article?” Sirius grinned, “If you don't mind us staying for a little longer, we would love to. Otherwise I can take Adrian up on some help finding another place.”

“Of course you can stay, don't be silly,” Alicia replied. “Also, Adrian left a note for you.”

Sirius perked up and felt something flutter in his stomach. He still had no idea what was going on in his life, or with Remus, or with Adrian, but he knew that he liked the man. He felt safe and excited whenever they were together, and that combination was something that he enjoyed. Even if he has no actual plan for his life past the next few days, he hoped he could enjoy some of the time with Adrian.

_Try to change up your car a little so it can't be recognized. The muggles in London reported it stolen, although they seemed perplexed and grateful for the money you left. That was a nice, although unnecessary and risky, touch. I was thinking we could go for a drive later._

Sirius smacked his forehead. Of course he should have used magic to alter the appearance of the car so it couldn't be recognized. The last thing he wanted while trying to keep a low profile is to get arrested by the muggle police. He could definitely get himself out of trouble, but it's a risk he can't afford to take now with Harry. After finishing breakfast, he took Harry outside to play while he made a few alterations to the car.

After changing the color and model of the car, he switched the license plates so they matched the French plates on the other cars in the yard. Feeling proud of his work, Sirius propped his hands on his hips and surveyed his new car. Sirius spent the next hour chasing Harry all around the backyard.

Afterwards, they both went inside to wash the various dirt and grass stains off. Celeste came into the kitchen and swept Harry up into her arms. “Is he hungry?” She asked while looking at Sirius, “are you hungry my handsome little boy?”

“He should be,” Sirius responded, “we've been running around for the better part of an hour.”

“I'll feed him and put him down for a nap,” she said and then stage whispered, “Why don't you go upstairs, someone is waiting for you.”

Sirius grinned widely, kissed Harry on the top of his windswept hair, and then dashed up the stairs. He threw open the door and stopped just inside the door as it swung shut behind him. Adrian was standing in the doorway to Sirius’ bedroom, leaning against the door mantel.

“Hey,” Sirius grinned.

“Hey,” Adrian replied with a grin. He pushed himself off the doorway and began walking towards Sirius. “I really want to ask you about that message, and about the article in the Prophet. But first, I want to do this,” he stepped up close to Sirius and placed his hands on the sides of Sirius’ face and leaned in, kissing him deeply.


	8. Chapter 8

A short time later, Sirius and Adrian lay entwined naked on Sirius’ bed, happy and sated. Sirius told Adrian about the note and his feelings on the articles, and while he didn't react quite like Alicia, he was still surprised by Dumbledore’s mode of communication. 

“And you haven't heard from anyone else?” Adrian asked after a moment of silence.

“No,” Sirius replied while shifting closer and resting his head on Adrian's bare shoulder, “why?”

Adrian shrugged gently, lifting Sirius’ head slightly. “I've heard that a lot people are beginning to return home or come out if hiding, now that they feel confident that He Who Should Not Be Named is gone. I wasn't sure if… You had said you might have had someone waiting back home for you. I thought he might have sent you a letter if his mission had ended. But since you're here now,” he said with a sly grin while wrapping his arms around Sirius’ back and grabbing an ass cheek with one hand, “I guess I don't have to worry about that too much.”

Sirius couldn't help groan and rub up against Adrian's hip, his cock pulsing with interest. “I haven't heard from Remus, and I thought about that too. If he was going to send me a message, he would have done it already.”

“I can't say I'm truly sorry, but I do hope you'll get news of him or from him soon. Closure at least might make you feel better.”

Sirius nodded. “I do want to at least know that he's still alive. And I want to know where he's living, and maybe send him some money.”

At this, Adrian looked at him somewhat quizzically.

“He's a werewolf,” Sirius explained softly. “He has been trying to keep a job, but nobody will hire him if they know, and everybody figures out eventually when he misses the same few days of work each month.” Sirius took a deep breath and continued as Adrian looked thoughtful. “James had been pretty much supporting Remus, and we used to all live together before he went into hiding.”

“And he was safe?” Adrian asked, but then quickly clarified, “I mean when he turned. It was safe for all of you, and Harry?”

Sirius nodded, “I'm an animagus. James was too. During the full moon, we would usually all change form together. Remus’ wolf didn't see us ad threats. And then when Lily came along, she would brew this potion for Remus that would let him keep his mind, keep himself, and then he would usually just sleep it off.”

“You're an animagus?” Adrian asked with awe. “I've never met one so young before. It usually takes years.”

“We all made the potion in year five at Hogwarts,” Sirius said sheepishly.

Adrian's eyebrows shot up further. “What do you turn into?”

“Do you want to see?”

Adrian grinned and dislodged himself from under Sirius to reach over and grab Sirius’ wand. Sirius grinned and pointed the wand at his chest and shifted.

Sirius loved turning into his dog and hadn't realized how long it had been since he had shifted. It must have been weeks. There were times when he would shift every day, and now, in the midst of all of his panic over keep James safe, he hasn't shifted in weeks.

Sirius stretch and then shook himself, turned in a circle quickly and then quietly barked up at Adrian. Adrian grinned and scooted down the bed and reached out to pet Sirius on the head.

Sirius leaned into Adrian's hand as he said, “You're huge and gorgeous, just like you regularly are.”

Sirius shifted back and leaned up to kiss Adrian again, “Huge?”

Adrian grinned against Sirius’ lips and reached out to pull Sirius close, “How much time do we have?”

“At least half an hour.”

“I think we can use that time wisely,” Adrian said with a mischievous grin.

** 

After Sirius and Adrian got dressed and went downstairs, Alicia suggested taking Harry out for a ride through the country. Adrian quickly volunteered to show Sirius to some of the more scenic local places, and they ended up going apple picking at an orchard that was in the next valley.

Sirius told Adrian about his motorcycle, after Adrian admitted that he was impressed that Sirius knew how to drive a muggle car. 

Sirius regalled Adrian and the giggling Harry with stories about learning how to drive. Remus’ parents had taught all four of them the summer after fifth year. Because of the stigma surrounding Remus’ werewolf status, his parents had been living on the border of the muggle and wizarding worlds for years. They both held muggle jobs, and were teaching Remus, and in turn his friends, how to survive in the muggle world. Their logic was that Remus would be able to hide better since the muggles didn’t recognize all of his symptoms. 

Remus and Peter never enjoyed driving, but James and Sirius took to it like fish in water, and when they turned seventeen, James bought two motorcycles, even though Sirius swore he was going to pay him back for it. 

After a while, they reached the orchard and walked around picking apples. Sirius wasn’t sure whether to put Harry in the stroller he had found in the car or carry him in the Bjorn, but finally decided on the baby Bjorn. He was grateful after they began walking amongst the trees because the uneven ground would have been a challenge with the stroller. 

After they filled their baskets, paid with Sirius’ muggle money, and put the apples in the car, Adrian suggested they walk along the river bank that ran next to the orchard.  
“There’s a gorgeous path along this side,” he said gesturing. “Some wizarding family owns it, but they are literally never here. I grew up on the other side of this orchard,” he admitted, “and in my entire life, I’ve never seen anyone there.”

Sirius looked at the house in the distance thoughtfully, almost like it looked familiar, but he couldn’t place it so they kept walking. 

“The weather is so perfect,” Sirius observed as they walked. He looked down at Harry and laughed when he realized that he had fallen asleep with a fist in his mouth, drool dripping down his wrist. 

“This is my favorite time of year,” Adrian said. He paused and walked slowly down to the river bank. “Shhh…” he said as he pointed at a small pixie that he was flitting around the reeds. 

Sirius stood on the path and watched Adrian with a grin. Adrian was surprisingly silent as he navigated through the reeds, and just as he leaned forward to catch the pixie, he froze at the sound behind Sirius. 

“Well, would you look at who is trespassing on our property, darling,” a dry, angry voice said behind Sirius, “isn’t that your fugitive cousin?”

Sirius spun and came almost face to face with two of the last people he wanted to see in the world, his cousin Narcissa and her husband Lucius. Narcissa was standing behind a pram, and they were evidently taking their baby, whatever his name was, out for a late afternoon walk. 

“Oh it is,” Narcissa confirmed in her high pitched, nasally voice. “And look, he seems to have that Potter child with him. The one everyone has been looking for.”

Lucius grinned his customary evil grin and began to roll his left sleeve up, “I know quite a few people who will be happy to see you, cousin.” He firmly pushed his wand into the grotesque snake tattooed on his arm.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> duh- duh - DUUUUUHHHHH
> 
> Sorry I'm being dramatic. Here we get the Malfoys, hiding out in France so they don't get in trouble for being Death Eaters, messing up Sirius and Adrian's romantic stroll.


	9. Chapter 9

The first time Sirius had seen that tattoo, he had wanted to vomit, but this time, seeing the detested symbol used so close to himself and to Harry, he didn’t feel the urge to vomit. 

He wanted to fight. 

To defend. 

To protect. 

Sirius pulled out his wand and reached his arm behind him waving it slightly, hoping that Adrian would take the hint and dash forward towards him so they could apparate out of here at a moment’s notice if the threat turned out to be imminent. 

Sirius jumped as two pops sounded almost simultaneously behind Lucius. His eyes flew open in shock and he instinctively widened his stance to be more prepared for the fight that seemed about to happen. He twitched his hand behind him again, hoping to feel Adrian’s hand in his. 

“Why have you called us, Lucius?” Sirius didn’t recognize the harsh voice, but whoever came when summoned by the Dark Mark was not somebody he would trust. 

“Look who I have found,” Lucius drawled, “The Black fugitive and on his chest, the Potter mutt.”

The two figures hissed and Sirius jumped when he heard a scuffle behind him.

“Look who was wandering around in the bushes,” a high-pitched voice that Sirius would have recognized anywhere said. 

“Wormtail,” Sirius growled, his eyes fixing on the slim figure who had a wand held against Adrian’s skull and dragged him towards the gathering group. Adrian’s eyes widened, but he gave no other reaction to the identity of the man who was currently holding him. 

“Oh Sirius, you have a friend,” Lucius drawled. “Oh wait, if I remember your particular kink, this is probably your new lover.” Sirius growled again at his cousin and her husband's laughter. “I have a proposal,” Lucius continued, “Pettigrew will let your lover go. No harm to him. You boys were simply going for a walk. All you have to do is give us the baby.”

“Harry? Never!” Sirius exclaimed fiercely. 

“Why?” his cousin asked with fake innocence, “We’re much better equipped to take care of him than you are. We’ve got Draco here. We will raise them like brothers.”

“You should listen to your cousin,” Lucius drawled as he began walking away from her. “She has a good point. And we would take care of him, you know. Raise him properly. Teach him the way a proper wizarding society should operate.”

Sirius realized almost too late that Lucius was trying to draw his attention away from Wormtail and Adrian; he had almost reached a point across from the pair when Sirius jumped into action. He couldn’t let them take Harry, but he also couldn’t let Adrian get hurt. If Lucius took one more step, he would draw Sirius' attention too far away from Wormtail and the other Death Eaters, and then Sirius would be at a severe disadvantage.

Sirius spun and cast spells and hexes faster than he had ever cast them before. He targeted Lucius and the two Death Eaters first. 

He hoped that Narcissa would care more about protecting her baby than about joining in the fight, and he was grateful when he saw her lean forward and instantly apparate out of the fight with the pram. One less person to worry about. 

The sound of fighting and a grunt from behind him assured him that Adrian had taken his chance and attacked Wormtail. Good. Adrian was bigger and stronger than Wormtail. Even without his wand, he should be able to take him. 

Sirius kept firing off spells as fast as he could, and grinned savagely when he stunned the two newer Death Eaters. The thuds their bodies made as they hit the floor were incredibly satisfying to Sirius; he had wanted to take action to punish the Death Eaters ever since he had seen the Dark Mark above James and Lily’s house, but he had forced himself to focus on protecting Harry, not seeking out a fight. 

This was his first chance to fight since then and it was glorious. 

Sirius landed an engorgement charm on the side of Lucius' pretty face and laughed harshly when his cheek and ear began growing comedically. Lucius cursed and disapparated away, leaving the two stunned Death Eaters on the floor where they had fallen. 

“More might still be on their way,” Adrian shouted as he ran up beside Sirius and placed his hand against Sirius’ shoulder. 

Sirius didn’t hesitate and instead turned in place to apparate them away. 

They landed in Alicia’s yard with gasps, and then hurried inside and locked the door behind them.


	10. Chapter 10

She looked at them with worried looks and as Adrian used a spell to close all the curtains in the room, she rushed over to help Sirius pull Harry out of his carrier. 

“What happened?” she asked with a gasp.

“We were careless,” Adrian grinds out with a grimace. 

“Death Eaters,” Sirius adds. “My blasted family too, of all people. They recognized me, and then realized who Harry must be.”

“Those were your family members?” Adrian was aghast. “They tried to kill you! And they wanted to kidnap Harry.”

Sirius shook his head, “Lucius never cast the killing curse, that was only the other two Death Eaters.”

“There were two more Death Eaters?” Alicia asked. "And they cast the killing curse at you? And at Harry?"

“As much as Lucius wanted Harry, for whatever reason, he still believes that my blood is too valuable to spill,” Sirius explains with disgust. “I was more worried about you,” he adds while looking at Adrian. “I was trying to keep their attacks away from you so that you could deal with Wormtail.”

Adrian grinned, “Thanks for that.” He took a deep breath and then added on, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone cast that quickly before. You are a formidable dueler.”

“Thank you,” Sirius replied with his first grin. “I’ve never fought three Death Eaters alone before, but I’m glad it worked out as well as it did.”

Harry seemed to rouse from the shock of so many spells and so much jostling and started crying. Sirius spent the next few minutes trying to calm him down.

“I need to go alert La Fontaine to the presence of Death Eaters here. I’ll be back as soon as I can,” he adds, looking at both Alicia and Sirius significantly. 

A few minutes after Adrian left, Celeste came into the kitchen to let everyone know that she had officially closed up the cafe. They explained to her what had happened at the orchard.

“But what about your car?” Celeste asked.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, if the Malfoys or the other Death Eaters explore the surrounding area, won’t they find it suspicious that a car was left there into the night? It's getting dark now, so anyone who had parked at the apple orchard would have left already. And then won’t they be able to figure out that you drove there?”

Sirius looked at her with dawning horror. 

Of course they would be able to. And once they knew that Sirius had driven there, that would narrow down their search area significantly. They might even be on their way right now.

“Alicia, can you communicate with Adrian or La Fontaine instantly? Do you have any two-way mirrors or anything like that?”

“I do. It's a one-use mirror,” she said as she rose from the table, “but it’s only supposed to be used in an emergency.”

Sirius reached for the small mirror that the pulled from an upper shelf and replied, “I promise I will replace this. How can we activate it?”

Alicia showed him and a face appeared short moments later, “Alicia?” 

She stepped into view and fired off an explanation in French too fast for Sirius to completely follow. The woman replied just as quickly and they agreed to meet at “location d” wherever that is. 

“Quick, we’ll apparate there and meet with Adrian,” Alicia said as she reached her hands out to Celeste and Sirius. 

Just as they placed their hands in hers, the kitchen windows and door exploded in towards them. Luckily, Alicia kept her head and Sirius felt himself being pulled into nothingness as he followed her. 

The three of them gasped as they reappeared in a well-lit sitting room. Adrian apparated in a second later with two other men and a woman followed a second after them. The three of them immediately began checking all of the windows and exits to ensure that everything was safe.

“What happened?” Adrian asked with worry as he rushed toward them. 

Sirius looked down at himself and realized that they were all covered in rubble and dust, the remnants of Alicia’s kitchen wall. “They found us,” he explained quietly.

“We got out just in time,” Alicia added just as quietly.

“How safe are we here?” Celeste asked while surveying the room.

“This is the next safe house after ours,” Alicia replied. 

“It’s a muggle-registered house in a muggle town nearly one hundred miles south of your house,” Adrian added. “There’s no way to trace it.”

“Did you have anything valuable upstairs?” Alicia asked Sirius. 

He shook his head and pulled a small pouch out of his pocket, “It has an expandable charm on the inside. All we lost were some clothes.”

“Those can be easily replaced,” Adrian said while stepping forward and wrapping his arms around Sirius and Harry. “I can’t believe how close they came twice tonight. How did they find you?”

“We think it was the car,” Sirius explains. “Celeste pointed it out. It would have probably been the only car left there, and that narrowed down the radius where we could have been staying.”

Adrian dropped his head to Sirius’ shoulder and cursed quietly. 

The other three people returned back to the room and spoke in quick French to Alicia while looking at Adrian with a range of emotions from confusion to concern. 

“It’s all clear,” Adrian translated as he looked up at Sirius and then across at his friends, “Sirius’ French is a little rusty. I’m sure he would appreciate if we spoke English while with him.”

Sirius grinned ruefully, but the other three nodded. Adrian stepped to the side so he still had one arm wrapped around Sirius’ shoulders, but they were both facing the rest of the group now. Harry was clutching at Sirius’ shirt with one hand and holding tightly onto his stuffed owl with the other. Sirius was on one hand impressed that Harry was handling everything so well, but then on the other hand he assumed that this mean that Harry was dealing with the trauma by basically shutting down, which was not a good thing. 

“Xavier is going to check on the cafe in a few moments and then will be meeting us here,” the eldest woman said. “My name is Emile. I am the leader of the north east section of La Fontaine. Adrian has told us a lot about you and young Harry here. You have done an admirable job keeping him safe.”

Sirius nodded and attempted a grin, “It doesn’t feel like it in this particular moment.”

“Nonsense,” she scolded, “Adrian said you are one of the best duelers he has ever seen.”

Sirius felt a blush creep up his cheeks. Adrian had said that to him, but there was a big difference between saying that to him and saying that to his leader. He must have really meant it. 

There was a small pop in the room Sirius had guessed was the kitchen, and a large man walked into the room.

“That’s Xavier,” Adrian whispered in Sirius’ ear.

“Ce n'était pas bon,” Xavier said with a Russian accent. 

“What went wrong?” Emile asked, “And English, please, for Sirius.”

“There were too many Death Eaters still there,” Xavier responded with a grunt. “I couldn’t get close enough to see anything without them noticing me. But it was more than four, so the ones you dueled with bought support."

Emile cursed under her breath before she began pacing, “I want to know who is there. And how many are there. The fact that they can rouse such a quick response worries me. And that they feel confident enough to move about like this, even after He Who Shall Not Be Named has vanished, that is not good.”

“I could go,” Sirius volunteered. 

“Darling shush. We don’t need you to risk anymore than you already have,” Alicia said.

Emile turned and stared at Sirius. The intensity in her eyes reminded him of Dumbledore. “Why do you think you’re more qualified to do this than Xavier, one of my best spies?”

“Because I’m an animagus,” Sirius replied simply. “I look like a stray black dog. Perfect for spying at night.”

She almost scoffed, but managed to maintain her civility, “I’m sure the Death Eaters have looked up your animagus form after you went on the run.”

Sirius shook his head, “They wouldn’t find anything,” he paused before admitting, “I’m unregistered.”

The room gave a collective gasp.

“You didn’t tell me you were unregistered,” Adrian protested.

“We always meant to register,” Sirius looks up at him and then over at Alicia, hoping that they’ll understand. Being an unregistered animagus is a serious crime. Azkaban-level serious. “James and I wanted to, but Wormtail kept convincing us to delay.”

“Which was probably just to benefit him,” Adrian said with realization. “That was part of his betrayal.” Sirius nodded, “That bastard. I should have taken care of him when I had the chance before.”

“It’s better that you all got out of there safe,” Emile confirmed although she was still staring at Sirius speculatively. “You’re really willing to do this?” 

“Yes,” Sirius responded immediately. “I’m a member of the Order of the Phoenix. I have trained for things like this.”

“You’ll be unarmed,” she pointed out. 

“Then I’d better not get caught,” Sirius replied with a dark grin. Then he turned to Alicia and Adrian, “You’ll stay with Harry? I’m worried about all the stress on him.” At the mention of Harry’s name, he looked up at Sirius with wide green eyes. “Harry I’ll be back in just a few minutes, all right?”

Harry held on tighter to Sirius’ shirt, and after a quick minute of hesitation, Sirius slipped out of the sweater and wrapped it around Harry as he deposited him gently in Alicia’s arms. After a moment, Harry tightened his grip on Sirius’ sweater and laid his head down on Alicia’s chest.

“Where will you go if this house is compromised?” Sirius asked. 

“Don’t talk like that,” Alicia said at the same moment that Emile responded. 

“Adrian will take you there first, that way you will know how to apparate there just in case you need to."

Adrian nodded and reached his hand out to Sirius. They joined hands and disapparated.

**

After walking around the house to get a feel for it, Sirius nodded. He felt confident that he could apparate here at a moment’s notice if he needed to.

“Can I do anything else to help you?” Adrian asked. He had been following Sirius silently.

Sirius nodded and pulled out the small pouch that held all of his worldly possessions, “Would you hold this? I don’t want to have to worry about grabbing too many things if I’m in a hurry.”

Adrian nodded and tucked the pouch inside his pocket, “I’ll be waiting for you at the other house.”

Sirius nodded and reached up for Adrian’s face. They met in a passionate but brief kiss. 

“It should only take a few minutes,” Sirius said, and then he disapparated alone.


	11. Chapter 11

Sirius appeared just outside of Alicia’s walled yard, in the area where she stored the garbage cans. He instantly crouch down behind a can and listened hard. He could hear a few people talking near the house, but there didn’t seem to be any alarm or movement, just quiet talking. He transformed into his dog form and then stretched and shook himself. 

He took another deep breath and listened, this time gathering more information that he had with just his human senses. There were four or five men gathered near the back of Alicia’s house, and they were talking quietly about finding someone. Sirius didn't recognize any of the voices talking outside, but that didn't mean that there weren't more Death Eaters inside the house. He would have to get closer.

Sirius bent to sniff at the garbage and began a slow meander towards the gate that lead into Alicia’s yard. He had learned years ago that stray dogs really only garnered suspicion when they walked in straight lines or did anything particularly human-like. As much as he didn't want to take his time right now, he knew that he had to if he was going to succeed at this.

Sirius circled the property slowly, pausing particularly long when he was near a pair of men standing near the front door. 

"I heard Dumbledore was working with the Aurors who captured Bellatrix, Rodolphus, Rabastan, and Bart," an anxious voice said.

"They're really trying to round us all up," the other voice responded.

"And if Dumbledore is really helping them," the first voice began, but was interrupted.

"The Dark Lord always assured us that Dumbledore was not as powerful as everyone made him out to be."

"But where is he?" The anxious man said, "The Dark Lord. He can't be dead. He always said that there was no way to kill him. He said. And that a baby did it? That just doesn't make sense."

"I heard the Lestranges were trying to get that information out of the Longbottoms. That's why they were torturing them. They thought that the Order of the Phoenix might know where the Dark Lord went."

"But did they get any information out of them?"

"Who knows? Rumor is that the Longbottoms lost their minds; they were batty to begin with, but now they're apparently in St. Mungo's because the cruciatus turned their minds to mush."

Sirius winced inwardly. He had never been particularly close with Alice or Frank since they were a few years older than him, but they had always been friendly, and they were valuable members of the Order. Since they were both aurors, they had served as important liaisons between the auror's office and the Order, and Dumbledore had relied heavily on them. When they had found out that Voldemort was going to target either Harry or their child, Neville, Sirius had a brief moment where he hoped it would be Neville, but he was ashamed of even that momentary lapse in character. 

"And for nothing?" 

"What do you mean?" 

"Well, even if they got any information on the Dark Lord, how are we supposed to get their information? They're being guarded by Dementors right now, and if they're convicted, which they definitely will be because the Ministry is trying to make a show of arresting us, then they're going straight to Azkaban. Even if they know anything, they'll be useless in just a few weeks."

Sirius inched closer to see the men. He didn't recognize either of them, but he knew that he'd be able to sketch their faces once he got back. He was glad to hear that Aunt Bellatrix had been arrested and was on her way to Azkaban. Of all of his relatives, she had always been the worst, and he had never been surprised by the rumors that Voldemort favored her among his other followers. 

Sirius moved slowly towards the back of the house, hoping to sneak in near the back door. The wall had been repaired, but he could hear that there were several more Death Eaters in the kitchen. He was assuming that Lucius, or whoever was in charge right now, would be there, so that was where the most valuable information would come from. 

Using some of the shrubbery that Alicia had growing near her kitchen to sneak up near the back door. Luckily, some of the repaired windows were open, so he could finally hear the voices inside clearly. 

"Pettigrew, can you think of anywhere else they might have gone?" Lucius demanded harshly. 

"No, I already told you: I didn't know that Sirius knew people in France. I don't know who lived in this house and I don't know where else they might have gone," Wormtail responded in his detestable voice. Sirius nearly growled at the thought that they had been friends. Friends. With that traitor. 

"What are the odds that Black would be here, in one of the only wizarding houses for miles, and this close to the Malfoy's estate? He was obviously planning something. Or perhaps spying on you, Lucius." The speaker's voice sounded familiar, but Sirius couldn't place it. He snuck forward a few more steps until he was right under the window. He slowly raised his head so that one eye was just above the window ledge, and he could see in. Lucius was pacing in front of Wormtail, who was sitting and cowering at the kitchen table. There were two men and one woman all leaning against different surfaces in the kitchen with their eyes following Lucius. 

"Why would he have the baby with him if he was spying?" Lucius snapped back. "He might be stupid, but he isn't that stupid."

"Plus, if he was spying on you, he wouldn't have been that obvious about it," Wormtail muttered.

The four Death Eaters in the room all spun and looked at him sharply, "What does that mean?" Lucius practically growled.

Wormtail cowered, and Sirius suddenly got a bad feeling in his gut. "Well... it's just... I wouldn't..." Wormtail stammered. 

Lucius stormed forward and grabbed Wormtail by the front of his shirt and raised him out of his chair. "You told the Dark Lord that you became an animagus in school. You said you made the potion alone. You said you were the only one who took it," Lucius shouted. "Nobody really believed you, but we didn't pursue it further. But. Now. I. Think. We. Should. Have." He punctuated each word with a shake to Wormtail's entire body. "Is Sirius Black and animagi too?"

Wormtail was stammering and shaking so hard he could barely speak, but he managed to squeeze out a "yes." 

The Death Eaters were all on instant alert with wands drawn. The two from the front door were summoned, and Sirius dropped down into a crouch as the few guards who were in the back garden with him came running into through the door right next to him. Sirius missed whatever was said in all of the movement, but the next few words from Wormtail rang out clear in his ears: "a black dog."

Sirius was running before the Death Eater inside could say, "Didn't we see a stray in the street outside?"

Just as Sirius turned the corner of the building, the wall exploded in a flash of red. He pushed himself to run faster, but fell as the ground below him exploded into rubble. He jumped up and hoped the dust would hide him as he changed back into his human form. He had never done it so fast before, and the rush of pain was a new and unpleasant sensation. 

As he rose to stand, the garbage can he was hiding behind vanished into thin air. Sirius looked up in horror at the group of Death Eaters who could suddenly see him. Almost a dozen Death Eaters suddenly pointed their wands at him instantly, but across all of the distance, Sirius locked eyes with Wormtail. He hoped that Wormtail could feel his seething hatred through their eye contact. 

As much as Sirius had wanted to fight Death Eaters earlier, twelve to one was a ration that he would never have welcomed, even at his most reckless. Sirius grasped his wand, shouted "Protego" and spun on the spot. As he disapparated, he watched a green spell hit his shield and bounced back towards the Death Eaters. He hoped that one of them would get hit, but the odds of that were unfortunately slim. 

One second later, Sirius apparated into the living room of their new safe house. He blinked the bright light out of his eyes and was engulfed in a strong pair of arms.


	12. Chapter 12

"What happened?" Alicia asked with concern. 

Sirius turned to look at her and saw Harry's red, tear-stained eyes. He reached out instantly for Harry, who raised his arms to lean towards Sirius.

Sirius explained what had happened with the twelve Death Eaters, and Emile nodded several times while he spoke. Harry’s cries and whimpers had subsided and Sirius suspected that he had actually fallen asleep while he was talking.

“I don’t like it,” she said and rubbed her chin while pacing. After a few terse minutes, she turned to Adrian, “Get in touch with your friend in Bath. Dumbledore needs to know about all of this before we make any real decisions relating to Sirius and Harry.”

Adrian nodded and stepped away from Sirius. He nodded to the group and disapparated on the spot.

“Does anyone want to try to sleep? It is getting late,” Alicia pointed out. Everyone shook their heads no and she nodded. “Me neither.”

Sirius settled himself on the couch so that he could adjust his hold on Harry, who was definitely asleep.

“There’s a crib in one of the bedrooms down the hall,” one of the previous silent women said.

Sirius smiled at her faintly but replied, “Thanks, but he won’t sleep in a crib at night. He’ll probably sleep best in my arms for now anyway.”

The woman glanced between Emile and Alicia with confusion.

“The attack happened when he was in his crib at home,” Sirius explained. The look of horror on the woman’s face didn’t surprise Sirius, but it made him feel a fresh wave of pain for Harry. He should be sleeping peacefully in his crib, with his loving parents not far away. Not in his godfather’s arms, in a safe-house fleeing from the Death Eaters. He deserved better than this. Sirius kissed Harry’s messy hair and rested his head gently on top of Harry’s head.

Adrian didn’t return for almost two hours, but he brought with him two small scrolls of parchment. One was for Emile and the other was for Sirius. He carefully laid Harry down on the couch next to him so that Harry’s feet were resting across his lap, hoping that the minimal contact would still keep Harry comfortable enough to continue sleeping. When he fluttered his eyes but showed no further signs of waking, Sirius unrolled the letter and read.

_Sirius, Adrian told me everything that happened. You have found yourself resourceful allies in La Fontaine. I was hoping that you would be safe there, but if you find yourself in danger again, apparate directly to James’ parents house. Remus is staying there. I’ve sent a special letter from the Prime Minister to Emile disclosing your Special International Apparition License. It includes any number of people who are traveling with you, listing them as temporary bodyguards for you and Harry._

After finishing the letter, Sirius looked up at Emile.

Her eyes were wide as she held up the Apparition License and another piece of paper. “I am impressed that he was able to get this license at such short notice. And he also included an Animagus Registration Form.”

Sirius nodded, “Dumbledore has his ways. Do you want to go? Or we could spend the night here and see if anything changes in the next few days.”

Remus is staying there.

Emile shook her head, “He said to do it if we were in danger again, and right now we're not. If you're alright with it, I think we should stay here so that I can reach out to the other members of La Fontaine to gather information.”

Sirius nodded. “If nobody minds, I'm going to find a bedroom so Harry can actually sleep in a bed.”

As Sirius rose and walked down the hallway towards the bedrooms, Adrian followed him. In the doorway to the first bedroom, he quietly spoke, “Can I join you later? Just to sleep, obviously since Harry will be there, but I'd like to stay close.”

“What? Oh yes, of course.” Sirius managed a smile through his distracted thoughts, “That would be really nice, actually. But maybe announce yourself when you come in.”

Adrian chuckled, “So you don't disarm me again? I learn my lessons.”

Sirius settled Harry and himself in bed.

Remus is staying there. Not Remus is waiting for you. Or Remus is expecting you. Not even, Remus is prepared for you and your group. Wizards forbid, not even Remus I looking forward to seeing you. Remus misses you. Remus wants you to come back. Just Remus is staying there. No awareness or acknowledgement of their relationship or any emotional turbulence that might results from them being together. No sign that Remus cared one way or the other if Sirius ever took them up on the offer. No sign that Remus cared about whether or not Sirius lived or died. No sign that Remus cared about Sirius at all.

Sirius shook his head and rolled over slowly so he wouldn't disturb Harry. He was being ridiculous. Of course Dumbledore wasn't going to mention Sirius and Remus’ relationship. Of course he wasn't going to talk about their feelings. This was official Order business. This was about keeping Harry safe.

He shouldn't be dwelling on the wording Dumbledore used because it didn't mean anything. Remus definitely cared about whether or not Sirius died. It didn't matter about their fight a few months ago, nothing would be able to erase their years of friendship before their romantic relationship began. He cared about whether or not Sirius died. He also cared about whether or not Sirius came; whether or not he wanted it to happen or dreaded it, Sirius wasn't sure. But he definitely cared.

But then how come Dumbledore couldn't mention something about that in the letter? Sirius just wanted to have an idea of what kind of reception to expect from Remus. Obviously being with Remus, even if he was still angry at Sirius, would be safer than being chased by Death Eaters, but he would still feel better if he knew how Remus felt.

Sirius kept thinking about Remus and he kept trying to make himself stop thinking about him, but it seemed hopeless. His thoughts kept coming back to Remus. 

He must have drifted off because he jolted awake when he heard a noise at the door. He had his wand halfway out when he heard Adrian whisper quickly, “It's me!”

Sirius dropped his wand and blinked blearily up at Adrian, “What time is is?”

“Almost two,” Adrian replied. He quickly rid himself of his outer clothes, shoes, and pants. He climbed quietly into bed on the other side of Harry and grinned tiredly over at Sirius. “The good news is that there is no sign of the Death Eaters making other moves. They aren't spreading out to look for us or calling up more support. It's just the twelve that you saw at the café.”

“And the bad news?”

“They definitely have at least two people posted in the village to wait for one of you to return to the house. And that means that none of you can go back. Even in dog form,” Adrian added before Sirius could chime in, “Emile said so already.”

Sirius shook his head, “Harry and I don't need anything there. But I feel terrible for Alicia and Celeste. Their whole lives were there, right? Did I make them lose all of their beloved possessions?”

Adrian sighed deeply, “Alicia said their most valuable and important possessions are in a hidden safe. She said she trusts that they are still safe. And La Fontaine will help her establish a new cafe somewhere else if we can't ensure the safety of that one in decent time.”

“But it was her husband's cafe,” Sirius protests. “It's all she has left of him. She can't just give up that easily.”

Adrian shrugged, “Well, Emile is optimistic that we'll be able to deal with the Death Eaters so that Alicia and Celeste will be able to go home. It should take minimal effort to rebuild and have it looking as good as new.”

“And then what?” Sirius asked even quieter than the rest of their conversation had been.

Adrian sighed again, “Well honestly I was hoping that with He Who Must Not be Named gone, all the Death Eaters would either be captured or go deep underground. I was hoping that things would calm down, and then maybe I would spend my time helping people settle back into their old lives. I don't know. Maybe I'll spend my time actually delivering bread for Alicia,” he added with a dry chuckle. “And you?”

It was Sirius’ turn to shrug, although he did I carefully to be sure that he didn't wake Harry. “I don't know. I should probably go back to England. I have a few aunts and cousins who won't try to kill me on sight. And a couple friends I'd like to check on. I could definitely use some of their help raising Harry.”

“And Remus?” Sirius closed his eyes for a minute before responding. “I don't know. I really don't. He's evidently back from whatever he was doing. Dumbledore wrote that he's staying at James’ parent’s house. But… He hasn't written to me. I don't know. I really don't.”

“Do you want to go back to him?”

“I'm not sure. I always thought we would be together forever. I thought we would be Harry's fun uncles who spoiled him and taught him our mischievous ways. I always thought Remus wanted the same thing. But then he said he didn't want the same things I did.” Sirius knew he sounded bitter. He still felt bitter, even months after their fight. Months after Remus said he didn't want to spend the rest of their lives together. Months after he said that he couldn't imagine a future for them.

“But you still love him,” Adrian pointed out, “you still have feelings for him.”

Sirius let out a harsh breath. “I can't help it. We've been close since we were eleven. Remus was one of my first friends at Hogwarts. After James, Remus and I were as close as two friends could be. And then when I was sixteen, I came out to James. I admitted that I had a crush on Remus, but I was afraid to tell him because I didn't want to ruin our friendship. James started laughing at me,” Sirius managed a smile at the memory. “He told me that Remus had come out to him just the week earlier. And he had told James that he liked me, but didn't know how to say it. We got together that week. And that was five years ago.”

“That's a long time,” Adrian acknowledged.

“I like you. I like what we could be together. But I feel like I need to see him, to talk to him, before I make any sort of decision about my future, our futures,” Sirius concluded, looking down at Harry.

Adrian nodded. “I understand. I think I would want to do the same thing if I was in your position.”


	13. Chapter 13

Breakfast was bizarre. It felt familiar to have Alicia helping to feed Harry, but it was unusual to have Celeste and Adrian join them for breakfast. The presence of Emile and a few other members of La Fontaine further added to the unusualness of the situation.

Owls came in for Emile almost constantly, as she corresponded with other members of La Fontaine, and apparently also Dumbledore. She passed each note from Dumbledore over to Sirius once she finished reading it. Shortly after Sirius put Harry down for a nap, Emile received a request from Dumbledore for their location so he could come speak with them.

Emile and Sirius quickly agreed that only good could come of the meeting, and Emile sent a note back with the address. As a precaution, everyone gathered around Sirius in Harry's bedroom, that way if the note was intercepted by Death Eaters, they could all disapparate out of there and go to James’ parent's house immediately.

However, a moment later they heard a knock at the kitchen door and a quiet, “Hello? It's Albus.”

Sirius nodded, so Adrian went forward and let Dumbledore into the kitchen. He paused abruptly when he saw that Sirius had his wand pointed at his chest, but his pleasant expression did not change.

The group let out gasps around Sirius, but he still asked, “Why did you make Remus a prefect?”

Dumbledore’s pleasant face broke into a grin, “Quite a wise precaution. I made him a prefect in the hope that he would be able to restrain some of your and James’ mischievous tendencies. Does that satisfy you, Padfoot?”

Sirius dropped his wand, “Remus told you about The Marauders?”

“I believe he has told me everything. Or at least everything he believes to be relevant. I'm sure The Marauders still have some secrets.” Sirius stowed his wand in his pocket and grinned. Dumbledore opened his arms slightly and Sirius gladly stepped into them for a quick but tight hug. “Where is Harry?”

Sirius showed him into Harry's room and after a minute of watching his sleep, he stepped back out towards the kitchen where everyone was gathered. He stopped in the hall right before entering the kitchen and turned back towards Sirius. “Remus wanted me to give you this,” Dumbledore said quietly as he pulled a small scroll out of one of his pockets. He handed it to Sirius and said, “You can read it before coming into the kitchen, if you'd like.”

Sirius swallowed past the sudden lump in his throat and reached out for the parchment.

Dumbledore smiled down at him and then stepped into the kitchen.

_Padfoot, What can I say other than I am more relieved then I have any right to be? When I heard about James and Lily, a million thoughts races through my mind. And then I got your note, but I was still undercover. I was afraid to believe all the rumors, so I didn't want to leave and potentially spoil everything I had worked towards. I heard from Dumbledore after a day and a half, and he told me not to write you because he was afraid of you being tracked._

_I'm sorry. I'm sorry for everything I said. I'm sorry for the pain I caused you. I want more than anything to see you again, to talk to you, to know that you really are alright. The pain of losing James, of knowing that Peter did it, and not being able to reach out and hold you, it was nearly unbearable. I can only imagine how you felt, and knowing that I added to your pain- that made me feel even worse._

_Please come home Sirius. I want to help you take care of Harry, if you'll let me. I want what we had before. Please._

_Mooney_

**

Sirius felt like he had been kicked in the stomach.

The letter was everything he could have hoped for. Everything short of Remus coming here himself.

But why hadn't he come with Dumbledore? Surely he could have gotten the license for Remus too. And why did Remus’ handwriting look different? Had it changed in the few months since they had been together? Had something happened to him? Had the letter been forged?

Sirius stood in the hallway paralyzed by all of his thoughts. Adrian popped his head into the hallway with a look of concern.

“Is everything alright?” He asked softly as he approached Sirius.

Sirius held up the parchment, “It's from Remus. Dumbledore gave it to me.”

“What did he write?”

“Everything I wanted to hear,” Sirius responded quietly.

Adrian attempted to smile, but it wasn't convincing. “Then why aren't you happier?”

“What if he doesn't mean it?” Sirius asked in almost a whisper, “What if he's just saying it because he thinks it's the right thing to say? What if he feels obligated to help, because he was friends with James too? What if he doesn't really want to be with me, but he feels guilty not helping?”

Adrian stepped forward and wrapped his arms around Sirius’ shoulders, “Shhhhh, don't think like that. Don't doubt him so much. If he really wants you back, you owe it to both of you to at least go back and talk to him. Figure it out in person.”

Sirius looked up at Adrian, “You really think so?”

Adrian scoffed, “Well honestly, I want to keep you all to myself. But if he says he wants you back, maybe he didn't really want to let you go in the first place. Maybe he was just afraid. People sometimes do crazy things during times of war, things that would otherwise seem out of character for them.” Adrian sighed deeply and stepped away from Sirius slightly, letting his arms fall. “I had someone who I wished had fought to be with me. He’s gone now, and we can’t get a second chance. If you have a chance to be with Remus, and if he really is the one, go to him. See what happens.” Then Adrian grinned sardonically, “And if it turns out that he really is an ass, you can come back to me.”

Sirius grinned weakly up at Adrian, “Thank you.”

Sirius turned and walked into the kitchen with Adrian a step or two behind him. Dumbledore made eye contact with him from across the room and smiled.

“Emile was just telling me about everything that has been going on in France. I did not realize how much we owe to La Fontaine for keeping many of our citizens safe. Hopefully many of them will feel safe returning home now that Voldemort is gone.” Dumbledore explained. Several people in the room twitched at Voldemort’s name, but Sirius was used to that. Dumbledore was one of the few people he knew who actually said the man’s name, and he only did it because Dumbledore did. ‘Fear of a name leads to fear of the person,’ was something that Dumbledore regularly said at the meetings. And while fearing the Death Eaters and Voldemort was a very practical survival skill, it still felt nice to have one less thing to fear.

Sirius nodded but didn’t say anything. He let Dumbledore continue talking.

“I was also telling her that I think it is safe for you and Harry to come back to England, and that I have spoken with a few people who would like to help you set up a new home and take care of Harry, Remus being on the top of that list.”

Sirius swallowed with difficulty again, “I think I would like that,” he replied as evenly as he could.

Alicia perked up and added, “Dumbledore got international apparating licenses for Celeste and me, if you need any help setting things up or if you need a sitter, all you will have to do is owl.”

Sirius grinned at her, “That makes me feel a lot better. You have been such a giant help. I honestly don’t know what would have happened to us if we hadn’t stumbled into your cafe.”

She stood up and raised her arms and welcomed him in for a warm hug, “It has been a pleasure.”

“I just feel so guilty that I got you into this trouble. Plus your home. What if the Death Eaters destroyed something that can’t be repaired?”

“Hush child, don’t worry about that. We’ve known about the risks when working with La Fontaine always. We’ve been lucky so far that nothing has happened. And if the worst that the Death Eaters did was damage some of our belongings, it’s worth it for how many lives we’ve helped protect over the years, not in the least including yourself and baby Harry,” Alicia responded.

Sirius nodded and looked over at Dumbledore. He was about to open his mouth to speak when he heard a cry from Harry’s room. He darted into the room and picked Harry up. He settled down almost as soon as he was in Sirius’ arms, just like he had been doing each time he cried. Sirius was glad that he could comfort Harry. It made him feel like he was doing a better job at this.

Sirius and Harry slowly said goodbye to Alicia, Celeste, and Adrian. Alicia gave Harry so many kisses that the boy was giggling helplessly when she handed him back to Sirius. Sirius held him and solemnly hugged each of the people who had helped him stay safe and sane in the past week.

After a few more minutes, Dumbledore reached his hand out and Sirius put his spare hand in Dumbledore’s. “Ready?”

Sirius nodded and the three of them apparated into James’ parent’s kitchen.

Or maybe, their house, Sirius thought to himself.

He looked around and before the wave of disappointment at finding an empty house could even really settle on him, he heard the sound of rushing footsteps.

Remus flew into the room and stopped abruptly in the doorway. He seemed almost as if he had hit a wall. Sirius and Remus stared at each other from across the room without moving or saying anything, the tension between them must have been palpable.

Sirius felt Harry being lifted slowly out of his arms by Dumbledore, “I’m going to go show Harry around in his new bedroom,” he said kindly, as if unaware of the two frozen men.

Dumbledore shifted past Remus to walk down the hall, and Sirius could hear him softly murmuring to Harry.

“I’m sorry,” Remus said almost inaudibly.

Sirius blinked, and a tear he hadn’t even realized was welling in his eye fell down his cheek. A second one followed, and then a third. Sirius nodded, and that seemed to be the symbol Remus had been waiting for, because they both unfroze and rushed forward. The force of their bodies joining and the tightness of Remus’ hug was almost enough to take Sirius’ breath away.

“There’s so much I want to say,” Remus murmured into Sirius’ shoulder. “But you’re okay? Harry’s okay? I’ve been going out of my mind for the past week.”

Sirius rubbed his face across Remus’ shoulder a few times and then pulled back just slightly so that he could look Remus in the eye. "We’re both fine. It’s been tough, but we’re okay. But tell me about you. What happened?”

Remus closed his eyes for a brief moment before responding, “I was doing undercover work for the Order. With a group of semi-feral werewolves.”

“What?” Sirius exclaimed, pulling back a few inches further so he could get a better view of Remus’ face. That is insane. “Why would you agree to do that? It was too dangerous! I can’t believe Dumbledore asked you--”

“I volunteered,” Remus interrupted. “Actually, I suggested it.”

At this, Sirius stepped out from the comfortable circle of Remus’ arms. “What.” It wasn’t a question. It was a statement of pure disbelief.

“We were losing,” Remus said while trying to reach out for Sirius’ arms. Sirius didn’t move when he grabbed on to him; he was too frozen in shock. “Order members were being killed almost every week. And the rest of the population? Wizards and muggles alike were basically being slaughtered. We had to do something drastic. Dumbledore suspected that that werewolves were biting muggle children for entertainment, and that Voldemort had sanctioned it. He was afraid that Voldemort was using the werewolves as a threat, basically as blackmail to get wizards to do what he wanted. I was the only one who could stop them. I was the only one who could get information and report back to Dumbledore.”

Sirius stared at him blankly. It made sense. No other order member would have been able to infiltrate a group of werewolves. “But why didn’t you tell me? You didn’t mention anything. You just said…” Sirius stopped. He couldn’t even repeat what Remus had said. It had been too painful for him then, and the thousand times he had replayed it in his head since then had only made it worse.

“I was scared,” Remus whispered, letting go of Sirius’ limp hands and sitting down at the table. “I knew it was theoretically the right thing to do. Strategically, it made sense. But I was terrified. I was also pretty sure I was going to die. I’ve never been good at lying or doing bad things,” he said with a weak laugh. Sirius felt his lips twitch in amusement. Remus had always been one of the worst liars he had ever met. “I didn’t want to get killed and then have you mourn me. I was hoping that you’d be so angry at me, and then after I was killed, you would be free to find someone else to be with.”

Sirius kneeled down in front of Remus and took his face gently in his hands, “That is the dumbest thing you have ever said.” Remus looked up with wide eyes and let out a harsh laugh. Sirius grinned up at him. “Seriously, Mooney. That’s moronic. You broke up with me to try to save my feelings? You broke my heart so that I wouldn’t have to experience heartbreak?”

Remus laughs softly and shakes his head, “When you put it like that, it does sound like a bad idea.”

“But...you didn’t mean it?” Sirius asks hopefully, “The parts you said about not seeing a future for us? About not wanting to spend the rest of your life with me?”

Remus closed his eyes, “I’m sorry. I was getting desperate. I… I wanted to just say goodbye and have it be painless. But you weren’t letting me go.”

“Because I love you! Because we love each other, and you weren’t giving any good reasons to leave, other than an allusion to doing something for Dumbledore. I couldn’t understand how you could love me and still leave.”

Tears were streaming down Remus’ cheeks now, to match the ones on Sirius’ face. “I really thought I was doing the right thing,” Remus choked out. “I can see now that it wasn’t. But… I really thought that Voldemort was winning. He was winning. I didn’t see a way out of it, a way that didn’t end up with all of us dead. If… If whatever happened with Harry, if that hadn’t killed Voldemort I don’t know what would have happened. Those werewolves really were feral. They bit and killed mercilessly. And they were just one faction of Voldemort’s dark forces.”

Sirius shushed Remus, whose voice was rising and Sirius could see the panic in the back of his eyes. He reached forward and held Remus again, the angle a little awkward since he was still kneeling at Remus’ feet.

After a few minutes, Sirius pulled back and looked Remus in the eyes again. Remus spoke first, confirming the need Sirius felt inside him, “I really am sorry. I shouldn’t have said any of those things before I left. I wish I could take them back, but I can’t. I hope that someday you can forgive me. And I also hope that you’ll give me the chance to prove myself wrong. I hope you’ll give me the chance to earn your trust again. I wish I could have been there for you, to help you with Harry. I wish I could have been there to comfort you, to hold you, to help you.”

After a few more minutes of holding each other and quietly talking, Dumbledore walked back into the kitchen. “Sirius, there’s someone I’d like you to meet. She’s waiting in the sitting room, if you don’t mind.”

Sirius rose and looked at Remus with a question in his eyes, “Go on. I met her yesterday. I think she’ll be a big help, and I think we might even be able to help her a little too.”

Sirius had even more questions now, but he followed Dumbledore into the sitting room down the hall. A red-headed woman was sitting on the floor facing Harry and a slightly smaller red-headed baby. The two of them were playing with toys and largely ignoring each other, but every once in a while one of them would reach out and take a toy from the other while simultaneously handing their old toy back.

Dumbledore gestured down to the woman, “Sirius, this is Molly Weasley. She’s your--”

“Second cousin,” Sirius concluded with a grin. “I’ve been hoping to meet you for years Molly.”

The woman stood up quickly and brushed her hands off. She pushed past Sirius’ extended hand and engulfed him in a huge hug. “I can’t believe we just missed each other at Hogwarts,” she exclaimed as she pulled back to look at him. She held his shoulders to ensure that she could take a thorough survey of her relative. “My husband Arthur and I live just over the hill and as you can see, Ronald is just about the same age as Harry. When we heard about what happened to James and Lily, we volunteered to adopt little Harry, but Dumbledore explained that you planned to raise him. That’s totally fine with us of course, not sure the Burrow can hold too many more kids, since we already already have six boys, but we would have made it work.”

Molly paused as if she suddenly realized how much she was talking. She smiled bashfully up at Sirius, and he returned the grin. “Six boys? Six?"

Molly blushed, “Well, Bill started Hogwarts this year, so it's really only five in the house now.” Sirius laughed and glanced over at Remus as he entered the room. “Remus was explaining how he was hoping to help raise Harry, since you were all so close at school. And he also mentioned that Harry and Ron might be having a couple sleepovers each month.” She glanced at Remus significantly, and he smiled slightly and nodded back.

Sirius looked between the two of them sharply, “I explained all about my condition,” Remus explained, “And Dumbledore vouched for me. He promised Molly that everything would be completely safe. He has a new Potions teacher at Hogwarts who is apparently willing to brew the potion each month. Dumbledore didn’t mention who it is, but they must be very good. I remember Lily talking about how difficult it was to brew, and she was the best in our year.”

“Maybe he finally convinced Slughorn to do it,” Sirius suggested.

“No,” Molly disagreed, “He said it was a new teacher, since Slughorn retired. But it didn't say in the paper and Dumbledore wouldn't tell us."

“And they’ll deliver the potion each month?” Sirius asked. “Dumbledore is always too busy. It’s not that I don’t want to rely on him--”

“But I really do have too many responsibilities to be acting as a courier,” Dumbledore interrupted as he glided in through the door. “As much as I would like to believe that I can do everything.” Dumbledore smiled indulgently at his own joke before continuing. “I believe Hagrid will be perfect for delivering the potion each month. He had expressed the desire to visit Harry regularly, and I know he can handle the responsibility.”

“You’re really going to help us?” Sirius asked, looking at Molly. “You have no other qualms?”

“What qualms would I have?” Molly asked simply, “It sounds like you’re making the best of a terrible situation. Yes, sure, in an ideal world James and Lily would be here raising Harry themselves. But that’s not the world we’re living in. Maybe these boys will live in a world where they don’t have to worry about Death Eaters. But for now, if Harry is raised by two loving people, and he has friends and family nearby to support him, I can’t imagine a better scenario to come out of this.”

Sirius grinned as he wrapped one arm around Remus’ shoulders. He couldn’t image a better scenario to come out of this either.

The past week had some of the worst moments of his life in them. But also, it had some pretty amazing things. Getting Remus back, knowing that Harry would be safe and secure, being confident that they had a support system to help them take care of Harry during the full moons, all of those things gave Sirius a sense of ease and confidence that he was sure was ripped from him the moment he saw that Dark Mark over James’ house.

Molly left not long after that, saying that it was almost time for Ron’s nap and that she wanted to make sure that the twins hadn’t burned the Burrow down. Sirius and Remus weren’t sure if she was joking or not, since her face looked somewhat worried as she said it.

“A ministry official will be coming by tomorrow morning at 9 in the morning to go over James and Lily’s wills, as well as officially making you both legal guardians of Harry, and giving you access to a portion of the Potter Gringott’s vault. You obviously will not have free reign, but whatever can be justified as necessary for Harry will be freely given. And the official will go over all of the details.”

Sirius looked over at Remus, “So this is really going to work?”

Dumbledore smiled slightly, “Yes, Sirius. I believe that things really will work out well for you, from now on.”


End file.
